The Secrets of Love
by BenXGwen Lightning Warrior
Summary: Ben and Gwen reveal their feelings during "Secret of the Omnitrix" and must deal with the aftereffects of the news and the trials of being a unique superhero couple, including but not limited to Ben discovering he is the first Je'daii. (For those who don't know Je'daii are the ancestors of the Jedi and Sith. Balance in the Force and Force-Wielders is what they sought.)
1. Sacrifice

Ben 10: The Secrets of Love

(A Ben: 10 BenXGwen Fanfiction)

Chapter One: Sacrifice

"I DON'T CARE!" Ben growled in response to two aliens, Tetrax and Myaxx, screaming at him to not activate the Omnitrix again for fear of speeding up the device's self-destruct countdown. As the green glow of the transformation dissipated, Four Arms started pounding on the hatch with all his strength as Ben kept yelling, "It should've been me!" The boy kept pounding on the hatch in absolute fury as anger, guilt, sadness, pain, and a fifth emotion Ben couldn't identify coursed through Ben's mind. He felt the release of a buried emotion that started to flicker to life on dance floor in the Rustbucket as he and Gwen slowly twirled around the space in happiness. Of course, that spark was smothered when Grandpa Max came in. Then, Vilgax and Kevin tag teamed him in The Null Void. That same feeling flickered to life when he saw them use Gwen as a bargaining chip for the Omnitrix and sustained itself even as Ben buried it under boyish arrogance. Now that she was gone, the buried emotion burst out in the roaring fire of that one statement. He only stopped when the teal crystalline alien, Tetrax, put a hand on the boy's shoulder. As the Omnitrix timed out, Ben sank to his knees in defeat. "It's all my fault, Tetrax. If I would have listened to Grandpa instead of trying to go after Animo…Gwen would still be alive." Tetrax felt for the boy, but in life, lessons sometimes must be learned the hard way. "Let's finish what Gwen gave her life trying to achieve." The Petrosapien said to Ben calmly as Ben looked at him, got on a hover board and nodded without a word.

As they rode, Tetrax noticed a change in Ben. The normally energetic and eager boy was quiet and reserved. This worried Tetrax, but the alien didn't press the issue because he knew it would do little besides anger the boy in his grief-stricken state. Once they got to the door of Azimuth's lab, a camera met them and seemed to focus on Ben. "What are you doing here?" A voice from the other side of the door growled. "We need you to fix the Omnitrix." Ben said calmly. "I know about the Self-Destruct Mode. I built it after all." Ben glared at the camera. "My cousin died to get me here, and you will help us." Ben growled. "What are you going to do to make me?" Ben couldn't take it any longer. With a glare of hate aimed at the door, Ben activated the Omnitrix, went Cannonbolt, and slammed into the door repeatedly until it gave. As the door fell over, the large creature looked at the boy, shocked. "This is not possible!" Cannonbolt smirked momentarily. Then, his mouth formed into a scowl. "Fix the Watch now!" Ben growled in as warning tone. "I say let the Universe be destroyed." The Creator said calmly. Before Ben knew what he was saying, he spat out something that shocked all in the room. "Fine…" He began to cry as he closed his eyes and squeezed the tears out. "…my universe has already been destroyed."

The Creator stopped in his tracks at that statement. "What do you mean?" He asked. "What do you care?" Ben snapped at him as he glared with dead eyes. Azmuth looked at the boy before he got out of the suit. Ben glared at the Galvan and picked him up. "You're a self-righteous, pretentious midget!" Ben growled. "I won't let her death be in vain!" Ben growled as he took the Omnitrix dial and twisted it around back and forth angrily. Azmuth stared in shock at the young boy as Ben unconsciously put the unlock combination of the Omnitrix. When the dial popped out of its base and rolled to Azmuth, the Galvan stared at the core in mild shock. "Keep it!" Ben growled as he glared at the Galvin in a fog of anger.

The diminutive grey frog studied Ben as the boy glared at him. The Galvan sniffed the air and picked up a faint trace of alien pheromones from the boy. _Interesting…_ The Galvan thought as he took a few hairs from the boy and stored them in his suit for analysis. When the suit gave Azmuth a readout of the boy's DNA over his neural link with the machine, he smiled. _I guess that Loboan in New Mexico does have quite a bite._ He thought as he had the suit run more tests. Tests showed that the boy's DNA was changing. Having been able to fallow the boy's exploits and "suggest" aliens for him at appropriate times through his Omnitrix, Azmuth theorized that the Loboan alien DNA in its saliva was fused with Ben's when the Omnitrix encountered the foreign DNAas it recollected the Florauna sample back into itself. The mix of "Capture" and "Active" modes that facilitated the change then, had no effect now. The boy would become half Loboan.

As Ben walked out of the lab, an explosion outside of the fortress rocked them and Ben heard a familiar whine. "Vilgax…" Ben growled as he shouldered a blaster and marched out to the battlefield. As Ben, Myaxx, and Tetrax battled Vilgax's drones, Ben let out his anger on the drones and stated blasting away. Little did he know, as he ran, Ben's body began to shift. It became more muscular and faster. Soon, Ben through the blaster aside and started ripping into the drones with bare…claws?! Ben's mind was too focused on trying to take down the robots to notice, but Vilgax wasn't so single-minded. He smirked at the weak child's new form. "Crush the boy!" The Warlord ordered with a cold and deadly stare. Two larger drones walked up to the boy while the smaller drones kept his occupied. Ben heard a drone's power up and flinched as he expected the blast to vaporize him. Instead, Ben saw two blue orbs of energy demolish the drone heads. Ben looked on in shock as he thought _Blue orbs…can it be?_ Hope dared to spring up in Ben as theboy looked to a cliff and saw the moist beautiful sight in his life. There, with a light smile on her face as she stood by Gluto, was Gwen Tennyson!

Time seemed to freeze as Ben sprinted to Gwen. The boy's eyes filled with happy tears as he raced across the raging battle to her. As Ben closed the gap to Gwen, his wolfish form retreated with Ben unaware the change ever occurred. When his arms wrapped around her, the distraught boy kissed Gwen on the lips and was shocked when Gwen didn't pull away but instead wrapped her arms around him in a tinder embrace. Ben broke the kiss suddenly when he heard something small land beside him. "You'll need this, kid. I don't think your girlfriend would appreciate it if I let you come home to your Grandfather in a body bag." Gwen shivered at the thought. "Are you saying all I had to do is pop the core back in once it was out?!" Azmuth smirked. "The energy in the core would have to dissipate first, but yeah, that's basically what would have to be done." Ben glared at the Galvan. "You jerk!" Ben yelled.

As Ben readied his baseball arm to throw Azmuth across the valley, the sound of large metal footsteps marched up to the trio. Azmuth smiled. "So, the fabled creator of the Omnitrix is really a Galvan?" He laughed darkly. "Yes, you little genius, you will build me an even more powerful device.' Azmuth twisted the Omnitrix dial until it showed the silhouette of an alien Ben had never seen before. "Oh, yeah?" Azmuth said with a smile. "Try this one on for size, kid." Ben nodded and slammed the dial down. When Ben opened his eyes, he was a giant white and red humanoid creature. He chuckled. It sounded deep and slightly threatening. The formerly towering drones now looked like toys from Ben's new prospective. He smashed them together and rolled them into a giant ball. Then, he threw the ball of scrap metal at a flying drone. The drone was crushed to pieces by the impact. A pair of drones tried to attack Ben next. As Ben raised his hands in a defensive position, a beam of blue light shot from his wrists and destroyed the drones.

With a yell of fury, Vilgax leaped onto Ben's Tuko'star and began clawing his way up Ben's body. "I SHALL NOT BE DENIED MY PRIZE BY SOME PUNY EARTHLING CHILD!" Vilgax yelled as he continued to climb up Ben's body. The hide on this new alien was so thick, Ben felt as if gnats were biting his legs until he saw Vilgax. The boy's eyes narrowed, and Ben picked up Vilgax who felt like a feather to him. Vilgax struggled against Ben's grip and got a clawed hand free. He then slammed his claws into Ben's massive hand. All that did was piss Ben off. He pulled Vilgax up to eye level and snarled in an animalistic fashion. Vilgax looked at the giant in shock as he began to squeeze Vilgax. Once the warlord stopped trying to struggle out of Ben's grip, Ben wound his arm up like he was at pitcher's mound and let Vilgax fly as if he were a fastball. "You are OUT!" Ben said as he made the umpire motions to go along with the call.

As the Watch timed out and after the giant red flash faded, Gwen tackled Ben in a hug. He smiled at the gesture and hugged her back, unable or willing to let go until Ben knew she wasn't a dream. "If I'm dreaming, don't wake me up." Gwen giggled at Ben's comment. "I didn't know you were such a softy, Doofus." Ben smiled at her. Then, he looked away from her, put his right hand over his heart, covered his eyes with the back of his left hand, and tried to do his best imitation of Shakespeare. "Oh, fair Juliet, you do wound me so!" He told her as he grimaced in mock pain. The playing instantly stopped when Ben had a flashback of Gwen as she was taken by the wild Florauna. Gwen noticed the glazed look in Ben's eyes and pulled him into a tight hug until the flashback ended. "It's ok, Ben," she whispered gently into his ear.

Once Ben was recovered from the flashback, Tetrax walked over. "Your Grandfather will start to worry soon. We should start heading back." Ben and Gwen nodded at Tetrax who seemed perplexed at the children's new proximity to each other considering Ben hoped originally to travel into space without his cousin but waved it off as a human thing. Once they got into his ship and headed back to Earth, fear started to rise in both their minds, _What will we tell Grandpa?!_ They thought in unison, completely unaware of the other's thoughts. Tetrax noticed the children's worried expressions and smiled as the realization hit him like a ton of Tadenite. "Max will understand." He said calmly. "Your bond is hard to miss."

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	2. Truth and Trust

Chapter Two: Truth and Trust

Ben and Gwen were understandably nervous as they headed back to Earth. What they did on Xenon was largely taboo back home. Sure, their feelings were out in the open now, but that only would lead to more trouble once they got home. "What'll we do, Gwen?" Ben asked her in a scared tone. For the first time the entire summer, Gwen didn't have a ready response for him. After thinking for a little while, she put a hand on Ben's. We'll play it by ear for now." She told him finally as she put her hand on his in a comforting gesture. Ben smiled at her and nodded with a sigh before he drifted off to sleep on Gwen's shoulder. Tetrax watched the scene with a smile on his face.

A few hours later, Tetrax tried to wake the children. "We will be entering the Sol Star System momentarily. Time to wake up, you two." Ben sighed and mumbled in his sleep. "Gwen…please don't go!" The boy then snuggled tighter into his seat while Gwen stayed motionless the entire time. _Even in sleep, Ben is restless._ Tetrax thought to himself with an amused smile on his face. Gwen woke up slowly to see Tetrax walking away from them. She yawned which caught the crystalline alien by surprise. He turned toward the unusual sound to see Gwen was awake. "Good. I was just going to tell you that we entered your home system." He told her with an expressionless face. She nodded. "I'll wake Ben up." She promised as she kissed the boy's cheek.

Ben began to stir and looked at Gwen. "Are we there yet?" He mumbled in a sleepy voice. "Almost…" Gwen said as she took his hand. Ben smiled at her for a moment. Then, his face darkened with sadness. "It was fun while it lasted." He said quietly before he turned away from her. "What are you talking about, Ben?" Gwen asked him with a worried and slightly frightened expression. Ben moved her orange bangs out of her eyes and looked at her with a serious and scared look. "They're going to separate us. You know that, right?" Gwen smiled at him and said, "Oh, my gallant Romeo, I shall wait for thee until the dawn." Ben sighed. "Spoiler alert: they die in the end!" He said as he looked at her with eyes that showed a broken heart. "We won't kill ourselves in an ill-conceived attempt to run away together." She said to him gently. Ben looked into his love's eyes. "I almost lost you once, Gwen. I can't go through that again." Ben told her as he fought hard to keep from breaking down completely in a fit of tears. "We don't know for sure how our parents will react, Ben. Who knows? They could be completely supportive." With that thought in his mind, Ben felt a good bit of unease leave him.

On the ground after Tetrax left, Ben and Gwen walked up to Grandpa Max with worried expressions. It was not lost on the old man that Ben and Gwen were holding hand as they walked up to him. "Grandpa," Gwen started. "We need to talk." Ben finished. Max nodded and could figure out what was on the children's minds with little if no thought. He actually smiled at them which lifted Ben and Gwen's hopes. As soon as the RV door closed, Max sat the children down in the booth. His smile didn't waver in the least which unnerved the new couple a little. "I've seen this coming for quite a while." He said to them with a warm and brief laugh. The shock was plain on both their faces. "What?!" They asked in unison which earned another laugh from Max. "I first saw it when you were dancing together. I actually watched the two of you for a little while before I decided to have a little fun of my own." Gwen and Ben both blushed deep red. "You're ok with it?" Ben asked nervously when the man said nothing more. Max nodded. "Spend a few years as a Plumber, and this is normal." He told them with a smile. Ben and Gwen were both relieved to hear that. "Your parents, on the other hand, will be a different story most likely, but I'll try to soften them up." Ben and Gwen nodded solemnly at Max. "Now, time to get you to bed. You have school in the morning." As Max got the kids back home, Gwen couldn't help but smile when she saw a similar expression on Ben's face. _It'll be nice to go back to normal._ Ben thought to himself. _There's less chance of Gwen getting hurt that way._ Ben quickly amended when he realized how much he was starting to sound like Gwen.

The next morning, Ben and Gwen walked into school hand in hand. His classmates gave Ben a wide berth and had been doing so ever since Vilgax attacked the school a few weeks ago. Cash and JT were rarely seen anymore. Ben liked to think that seeing your prime target turn into an alien kick-ass superhero had something to do with that. Ben actually thought he would get away without meeting the King Jerks of Campus. He was not so lucky however as Ben saw them on his way to class. JT and Cash saw Ben's hand squeeze Gwen's gently and smirked. "Going with the resident nerd, Tennyson?" Cash asked with a smirk. "Watch it, Cash." Ben warned. This got a laugh from the bully. "What are you going to do? Fry me?" Ben shook his head. I wasn't talking about me, idiot." Ben said calmly as Gwen grinned with a mild darkness in her eyes. Cash started to back off when he saw her look. "Don't mess with me, Cash." Gwen told him calmly before she and Ben walked into the classroom together.

Class was relatively normal, but Gwen was able to pull the smart Ben to the surface since she started coming to his school. In fact, they turned it into a friendly competition of sorts. Of course, this previously hidden side of Ben earned him some hazing from JT and Cash, but Ben didn't mind. They would be the ones stuck in a menial job, but Ben knew he would be better. With Gwen to help him, Ben actually started to enjoy school. As they were let go for lunch, Ben again held his nose and found him wishing for Grandpa's Marinated Mealworms. Despite the massive gag factor of the Frankenstein food of the cafeteria, Ben managed to eat it. After lunch, the rest of the day was pretty slow. When the bell rang to let everyone out, Ben was actually dreading it because he had a good idea of what awaited him.

As he and Gwen met up and started to walk home, Ben's mind ran wild with possibilities and few were good. _What with Mom and Dad say?_ Ben thought as Gwen put her arm through the crook of his in an attempt to console him…and herself. She could only imagine what her tight-gripped parents would do to her. When they made it to Ben's house, Gwen moved away from him slightly to not arouse suspicion, just in case they didn't suspect anything. _Here we go._ Ben thoughts she looked at Gwen for a last bit of encouragement.

When Ben opened the door and looked around with hopes of seeing an empty living room, he saw his mom, Dad, Aunt, and Uncle with Grandpa Max calmly sitting between the two sets of parents. "Your grandfather says there is something you would like to discuss with us, Ben." Sandra said to him. _The traitor…_ Ben thought as he shot a hurt glare at Max. Gwen squeezed Ben's hand nervously, and together they sat down on a vacant couch. "Ok…so you guys know about the aliens, Omnitrix, and Xylene…" Ben stopped and took a minute to compose himself. The look on all the adults' faces with, the exception of Max's, said the same thing. _Why would Ben bring up Max's girlfriend?_ "What you don't know is during the summer, Gwen and I got closer." The confused looks continued, so Gwen decided to enlighten them. "Ben and I love each other." At this revelation, Frank and Lilly gave their daughter a very angry glare. Ben felt a growl form in his throat at this. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? YOU WERE TO GO TO HARVARD AND STUDY LAW LIKE I DID!" Frank yelled as he raised a hand to slap his daughter. Ben glared at the man and caught his arm in mid-swing. Ben's body shifted quickly as the Loboan recombinant DNA made itself known. "Don't…do…that…Uncle." Ben said as he struggled to control his rage. Ben flipped Frank into the wall and looked at him. "Try to touch her again, and I won't be so nice." Ben warned as his rage slowly left, and his body gradually changed back to its natural human state.

The family stared in shock at what Ben did. "How…?" Lilly tried to ask but couldn't voice the question. Ben answered it anyway. "In New Mexico, I was attacked by an alien biped wolf in one of my alien forms. When the Omnitrix timed out and pulled the alien from back into itself, the foreign DNA merged with my own and made me like a werewolf." Ben explained. Max didn't look surprised which earned him a glare. "They're called Loboans," He said calmly. "Far from mindless beats, they choose a mate and protect said mate to their last breath." Carl seemed to pale when heard this. "Shit!" He mumbled under his breath. "What is it?" Sandra asked. "Before I met you, I met a Loboan named Luna. Together, we had Ben." Sandra glared at him. "You told me-" He looked at her with sadness is his eyes. "I know what I said, but I wanted to protect you." Carl then turned to Ben. "Loboans are indistinguishable from humans until they get around your age, Ben." Ben glared at his father. "I'm…I'm not human." Carl sighed. "Not completely, but you are still my son no matter what." He leaned in and whispered in Ben's ear as it twitched in response to the air. "I can't fault you for falling for Gwen." Ben didn't know what to do with the information, so he promptly fainted.

When Ben came to himself and sat up, he saw worried faces around him. "Ugh! What happened?" Ben groaned. "I told you too much at once, and you fainted." Carl said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. Then, it all came rushing back to Ben. He looked at the others in fear. Two faces had scowls on them. The rest were happy. "Little missy," Frank growled. "We're leaving this little freak show tonight. You're coming with us!" He said as he grabbed her arm and began to drag her out of the house as she kicked and screamed in protest.

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	3. Perserverance

Chapter Three: Perseverance

Ben glared at Frank as he heard Gwen scream in fear and pain. He had never seen a man so hell bent on getting his own way. The man was acting like a child, and it pissed Ben off royally. As he ran after Frank out of the house, Ben had some dark thoughts running through his mind. He wasn't thinking of killing the man who he grew up with at family gatherings and knew as his uncle. No, those dark thoughts centered around what a man so close to a psychotic break would do to Gwen. Ben saw the car at the edge of his vision and was about to go XLR8 when he saw a street bike. Ben smiled, went Upgrade, and took over the bike before he shot off. _I'm coming, Gwen! Hang on._ The boy thought as he shot down the road after her.

In the car, Gwen was terrified. Her Dad had never shown signs of psychological problems before, but finding out your nephew is half alien wolf and in love with your daughter can have unprotected effects on the psyche. Needless to say, the girl was terrified as her father broke speed limits and ran through red lights. _I need to get out of here!_ Gwen thought to herself. To her credit, Gwen remained calm and collected on the outside. A summer of alien butt kicking can do that to you. She felt a small object in her pocket and smiled to herself. The redhead pulled out Charmcaster's spell book and started leafing through the pages. "Honey, what are you reading?" Frank asked with a kind tone that had an edge of suspicion to it. "Nothing, she replied smoothly. "It's just a pocket-sized catalog for Bancroft Academy." Frank nodded. "Bancroft…that's a good school." The girl inwardly sighed with relief as she continued to look through the book.

Ben glared at the car, determined to keep up with it. The way Uncle Frank was driving did not seem like that of a careful father. No, Ben saw the driving of a bank robber as he followed the car, which by now had multiple squad cars behind it with their sirens and lights going wild. _This will only end badly._ Ben thought. With the addition of police, Ben knew Gwen would be trying to talk her father down. He would most likely refuse and continue running, afraid of losing his daughter which, by now, was almost a certainty. Ben continued the chase until he heard beeping. "Damn it!" Ben growled as the Watch times out, and Ben brought the bike to a skillful but reluctant stop. Then, Ben heard the screaming of tires and the crunch of a collision. "Gwen!" The boy yelled frantically as he jumped off the bike and started sprinting like a madman.

Meanwhile, Gwen got really scared when police started to gather on the car's rear. "Dad, you have to stop. You'll kill us all!" She pleaded. "At least, we'll go together." He told her with a calm tone that chilled Gwen to the bone. That was when she saw it. A packed intersection with their lane under a red light rapidly approached the speeding car. "Dad, stop!" All her cry did was make the man drive faster. Gwen closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. In Gwen's mind, a sweet voice called out. _Repeat after me,_ the female voice told her. The voice sounded sweet and familiar. _Porta occulta!_ Gwen repeated the words aloud and a hole opened in her door. Then, Gwen jumped through the hole and rolled to her feet. When Gwen heard the crash, she began to cry and ran to the car. The driver's door was bent in so that it couldn't be opened with normal methods. Frank lay unconscious on the steering wheel and bled profusely from his head. Lilly seemed to be in somewhat better shape and had bad scrapes on her arms and a bruise on her head from her impact with the dash. "Please, be ok!" Gwen pleaded as she saw the cops surround her. "Please, help!" She cried out as she looked at her motionless parents. One guy nodded and called in paramedics over his radio. He was about to call for Jaws of Life too when Ben ran up to them.

Ben's heart thudded hard in his chest when he saw the crash. He was relieved when he saw Gwen unhurt, but her pained expression worried him. Despite many protests from the Boys in Blue on the scene, Ben pushed past them. "Gwen, are you ok?" She nodded. "Mom and Dad are trapped inside." She told him quietly. "We have the Jaws of Life en route, ma'am." The cop said calmly to Gwen." We don't have time to wait. Ben said calmly. The cop smiled at him. "I like your obviousness, kid." With a sarcastic nod, Ben let his Loboan half out and, with a growl of effort, ripped the driver door away from the main body of the car. Once Ben tossed it aside, he did the same to the passenger door. The cops looked on stunned and speechless as the boy recued his girlfriend's parents as if it was nothing.

Ben gently took Frank and Lilly out of the car and started to tend to them with emergency first aid. "Gwen, I need you to stabilize them with a spell." Frank growled when he saw Ben in a haze. "Don't you touch me, monster!"Ben shook his head. "Either you listen and keep your mouth shut or bleed out!" Ben growled as he looked and Gwen and nodded. She walked over and mumbled a healing spell as Frank looked on in shock. Gwen noticed. She looked at Frank. "That's right, Dad." She said calmly as the spell finished its work and made the man stable enough to be moved into the ambulance safely. Then, Gwen moved to her mother and checked her before they were both loaded into ambulances. Ben relaxed and called his parents.

Along with Max, the family went the hospital and checked on them. After a nurse came in and looked around, she said, "Tennyson?" The group in question stood. "How are they?" Gwen asked as Ben held her hand comfortingly. The nurse smiled. "They are doing better than expected." The nurse said as she led them to the room. As Gwen walked in, Frank growled. "What are you doing?" Gwen sighed and looked her father in the eye. "Dad, you're alive because of magic I learned over the summer." She said calmly. That brought a shocked look to Frank's face. He then glared at Max. "Dad, how could you let her do this?" Ben glared at Frank. "Do you want your daughter to be roasted alive by a crazy sorcerer and/or his niece?" Ben asked calmly. Frank shook his head. "Then, Gwen needed to learn to fight fire with fire, Uncle." Ben said as he backed away from the bed with a glare. Max sighed. "When you were born into this family, normal went out the window." Frank sighed and shivered. "I'm sorry, Gwen." Gwen looked at her father with teary eyes. "After what you tried to do about my choices, I don't know…" She trailed off and walked away.

Ben sat silently with his back against the wall and left with Gwen when she walked out of the room to collect herself. The adults walked into the room and hell broke loose. "What were you thinking, son?" Max asked with a glare. Frank sighed. "What would you do when you found out your nephew and daughter were superheroes and in love?" Max sighed and shook his head and put his hand on the wall. "I would take it a little at a time and adjust. I wouldn't lose my mind and try to kill my family." Max said with a glare. "Even if…" Max shook his head. "Look at me, son. I'm in love with a reptilian alien and was married to a sorceress who Gwen inherited her powers from by the way, so don't talk to me about unconventional relationships." Frank stared at his father in shock. "Mom was…" Max nodded with a look that Frank knew as a serious, no-nonsense look that he knew from childhood. "I guess I need to apologize to her." Frank said calmly. "You already tried that, son. I don't think she'll trust you again." He said calmly before he left and let the nurses tend to their patients.

Back in the waiting room; Ben, Gwen, Max, Sandra, and Carl started to talk about what would happen to Gwen now that her parents would soon be legally tried for the crimes. As a result, Ben and Gwen's relationship would be common knowledge for the trial and most likely "Exhibit A" for the temporary insanity plea the defense would probably come up with, but with Ben's half alien DNA, that would be next to impossible to prove Ben was genetically related to her. The defense fell through as Gwen expected like wet paper ripping. After the trial, Gwen was a little scared, and understandably so, as a DHS agent led her out of the courthouse. Max smiled and had a short chat with the DHS agent. The agent sighed and looked at Gwen with a sad look. "Sometimes, I really hate my job." The man said with a frown. "Max, she has to stay in the system until you can push the paperwork through." He said with a sigh. Ben felt a growl roll in his throat at the thought of being separated from Gwen for any amount of time. "Ben," Carl said calmly. "Relax. Let your grandfather talk to the man."

"I have the papers ready right now, but they may take some time to be processed." Max told the agent. He smiled and nodded as he took the stack of paperwork from Max. "I'll push these through as fast as I can, Max, but for the sake of rules, Gwen will have to come with me until the papers are finalized." The agent looked at Ben and could tell the boy was close to losing it. Who could blame him? The boy watched Gwen like a hawk protectively from the day of the crash to now, and he wasn't about to let the state play the same game with her. The agent was about to walk away with Gwen in tow when his phone went off. "Yes...Really?" The man nodded in response to whatever was said. "How strange…" The agent said as he sent Max a knowing and slightly annoyed expression. "I see…That's good news." With that said, the agent hung up and looked at Max. "You could have told me you already put her in the system under your care." That earned a laugh from Gwen who got a mischievous look from Ben. "Did you…?" She grinned. "A girl's got to have some fun during court recesses."

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	4. Faith

Chapter Four: Faith

Max looked at Gwen in mild shock at what the ten year old girl did. "What?" Gwen asked with an innocent smile."I am not going into the system for any time." She said with a mild glare at Max. The old man sighed and smiled at her. "Can we continue with the road trip, Grandpa?" Ben asked as he looked at Max. "Yes…we can." He said kindly with a smile. "Take good care of Ben, Dad. We'll meet you back at the house, barring any 'pit stops"." Carl told his father with a smile as the old man chuckled. "I think Gwen will make sure of that, son." Max said with a smile. As Ben and Gwen boarded The Rustbucket again, Carl and Sandra waved at them. As Ben looked around and did not see Lily and Frank, he got a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach but ignored it for the time being.

In a place just out of sight, a young boy with raven hair and dark demented eyes that flickered with blue arcs of energy as he watched the three leave was joined by two figures covered in shadow. **Author's Note: I know this doesn't make sense, but in my timeline, Kevin used the Omnitrix energy to break out of the Null Void and, in the process, reverted to his human form.** One was female and the other male. "Follow them." The man said as a little sunlight spilled in a rectangular form on his face and revealed the man and woman to be none other than Frank and Lily Tennyson! The boy nodded, asked "I will get all the energy I want by getting her back?" As the worst parents in the universe nodded, the boy brought a nearby car to life with his energy, jumped into it, and began to tail the Rustbucket as Frank and Lily watched the boy leave with smiles on their faces. "There goes a great kid, Lily." Frank said with a laugh. "He will get our daughter back, Lily. Don't worry."

Back in the Rustbucket, Ben was antsy as the feeling of unease continued to plague him. Ben continued to watch their six even as Max and Gwen tried to calm him down. "This is a time to celebrate." Max told him with a smile. "I don't know, Grandpa." Ben said with a sigh. "I can't shake the feeling something's going to happen." Gwen smiled and gripped Ben's hand that was closest to her. "Relax, Ben. Just enjoy the time." She told him with a look he couldn't resist. Ben smiled sheepishly and sat by her on the couch. "That's better." She said with a gentle smile as she held him. "After all the crap we went through, I'm not going anywhere." Gwen told him as he gave her a thankful smile. "Let's get back home." Ben said with a nervous tone as he looked around. Max nodded in the boy's direction. "You got it, Ben." He said as he hid a worried expression behind a smile. _Loboan instincts are rarely wrong._ Max thought as he mentally prepared for a fight.

As they were about to drop Ben off, Gwen saw that a car screeched to a halt behind them. She tensed for a long moment as time slowed. One foot got out of the car then another. Energy sparked off of the car's metal exterior. Gwen's heart jumped in her throat as Kevin got out. This made Gwen's blood run cold. Ben instantly flared. "What are you doing here?" Ben growled with a deadly glare aimed at Kevin. "I was hired to get Gwen." Kevin said with a dark chuckle. "You won't touch her!" Ben growled as he barred his fangs and went to his Loboan half. "Oh. Benji's got some new tricks." Ben snarled at the psychopath and ran at the kid. Kevin chuckled and created a ball of energy and threw it at Ben. The boy was too slow and caught the current to the face. Gwen shivered as Ben's hair stood on end, let out a scream of pain, and seemingly lost consciousness. _Please, trust me, Gwen._ Ben thought as he concentrated to stay as still as possible.

Unfortunately, the fake out was too effective. Gwen screamed when she saw Ben fall to the ground. "Ben!" She yelled out as she began to cry. "Aw…" Kevin mocked. "Did I break your boyfriend, Gwen?" Gwen just glared furiously at him as her hands glowed brightly with magical energy. "Oh, I'm so scared." Kevin said in mock fear. "You should be." Gwen growled darkly as her eyes glowed with the energy in her body. Kevin ignored her with his focus solely on Ben. As Kevin leaned over to gloat, Ben grabbed him by the throat. "If you want to kill me, you need to hit harder than that." Ben said as he began to squeeze Kevin's neck. "Benji, don't be so stupid." Kevin growled as he kicked Ben away with an energized impact. Ben groaned and glared at the maniac. Gwen glared at Kevin and blew him away with a spell. Kevin flipped, landed on his feet, and charged at Gwen. "You're coming with me!" Kevin growled as he captured Gwen and drained her enough to knock her out.

Ben glared at the boy and sighed. "Grandpa," Ben yelled as The Rustbucket screeched to a rolling stop. "Kevin's got Gwen!" Ben said "Get in." Max told him with a firm look as Ben jumped into the passenger seat and looked out the windshield worriedly. "There's no telling what he wants her for." Ben said with a fearful look. "We'll get her back." Max told Ben as they chased Kevin. "I've had enough of this!" Ben growled as he went XLR8 and shot of after Kevin. Gwen shivered as she woke up and looked around. "W-where am I?" Gwen groaned as she sat up and looked around. Then, she heard Kevin chuckle and shivered. "They didn't say you had to be alive." Kevin said with a dark chuckle as he pulled into Frank and Lily's house. As Gwen tried to bolt, Kevin gripped her arm and began to drain her. Frank and Lily walked out with fear on their faces. "Kevin, stop." Gwen pleaded as she started to pale and fought to stay conscious. "Ben, help me." She said in a weak voice. "Right here, Gwen." Ben said as he glared at Kevin and knocked him back with a burst of speed. Gwen went flying and passed out before she hit the ground. Frank and Lily looked in horror as they held their daughters limp body in fear. "We didn't want this!" Lily screamed.

"I was done with her anyway." Kevin said with a glare aimed at Gwen's parents. "I brought her back. It time to pay up." Kevin said as Ben looked at Frank and Lily in shock. "How could you?' Ben growled as he and Kevin clashed. The Watch timed out, but that didn't stop Ben. He went Loboan and started to maul Kevin. Gwen groaned and looked up to see her Mom holding her. The unexpected action freaked Gwen out and caused her to jump out of the woman's arms with a glare. "Faith…" Gwen growled. "You both need a good dose of it." She growled as she went to help Ben with Kevin. The two bewildered parents looked at the battle with wonder. Gwen covered Ben's holes in his attack. They flawlessly took down Kevin. Ben felt like he should offer the monster one last chance to amend things. Gwen looked at Ben with terror in her eyes. "Ben, this is stupid!" She yelled as he approached the boy. Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As Ben turned to leave the psychopath to his own misery when Kevin grabbed his wrist and remutated into his former, more fitting appearance.

"Thanks for the boost, Benji!" Kevin growled as he threw Ben into the wall. Gwen looked at Grandpa Max with a shiver as she saw him dogged a blast of fire from Kevin. Gwen glared at the monster and took out her spell book with a deadly glare. "Ben may have hope, but I've felt your hunger. It's time to end this!" Gwen said as her eyes glowed brightly with power as it ran through her. "Syphosis!" Gwen cried out. Energy tendrils shot out from her fingers and lacked onto him. "Let's see how you like it!" Gwen yelled really pissed by now. She took the mystic lines and attacked them to the Omnitrix. As the energy was pulled out of Kevin and put back in the Watch, Ben groaned. "Still the optimistic one, hey Ben." She said with a glare that quickly melted into a relieved grin. "What were you thinking?" She growled. Ben slowly stood and looked at her with sad eyes. "I thought he was like Vader, misguided but ultimately able to return to the light." Gwen sighed and shook her head. "Not everything has a happy ending, Ben." Max said as he walked up to them, glared at Frank and Lily, and got between them in a protective stance.

"What were you thinking?!" Max growled at his son, furious. "Dad, we wanted our daughter back." Frank said with a glare aimed at him. Max shook his head in annoyance. "So, to get her back, you hired a psychopath who would like nothing more than to kill Ben and Gwen?!" Lily blinked as it finally clicked in her head. "That's how he knew so much about Ben. I figured they were just friends." Gwen stared at her Mom in utter shock. "No red flags went off when he started the car without being in it and DROVE off? He can barely see over the dash!" Gwen said to the woman with a glare that could melt steel. She shook her head and walked over to Ben to cool off. Ben smiled at her and kissed her gently. As their lips met, Gwen's fury left, and she smiled at Ben contently.

Frank and Lily hated to admit it, but Ben was a good choice for her. Ben noticed their contemplative looks and walked over. Frank sighed. "We're sorry, Ben. You will be great for our daughter." Ben looked him in the eye. "If that was your attempt at an apology, it won't work!" His Loboan form began to bleed through in response to his anger. "You hired our most hated enemy to kidnap Gwen and get her back to you!" Ben glared at them with furious burning rage in his eyes. "Someday, I may forgive you, but it won't be any time soon!" He growled as he fought the instinct to maul them for putting Gwen in such danger. A gently hand on his shoulder and Gwen's kind voice quelled the desire. "Come on, Ben," she said with a smile. "I'll walk you home." Ben grinned at her. "Fine by me!" Ben said with a grin as she slipped her hand in his.

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	5. The Possibility of Redemption

Chapter Five: The Possibility of Redemption

As Ben and Gwen walked to Ben's house, Ben got the feeling they were being watched. He looked around, saw nothing, but stayed alert. Gwen felt Ben tense and looked at him. "What is it?" She asked as worry crept into her voice. Ben looked around, and his eyes narrowed as he scanned their surroundings. That's when Ben heard the alarm bell on an antiques store down the road. Ben sighed and smiled. "Let's go kick some butt!" He told her with a smile. She nodded but was instantly on edge because of the store that was being robbed. "Ben, don't be so eager!" She yelled. "It's-" Ben cut her off with a gesture and pushed himself flat against a nearby wall. "I grow tired of your games, you old fool!" A man growled as they heard furniture crash against the back wall of the store, its contents spilled out onto the floor. "I want the Animus Eternus! Where is it?!" The sales clerk glared at him. "Even if I did know where it was, Dark Sorcerer, why would I tell you?" Hex glared at the man. "Your live is of little use to me!" As Hex's staff warmed up for the kill, Gwen mumbled a shielding spell and projected it between the old man and the blast.

Hex looked around with a smirk on his face. "Where are you, you charlatan?!" He growled with a deadly look. Ben and Gwen looked at each other and were about to charge in when Charmcaster's clay mutts pounced on the duo. "They are here, Uncle." Charmcaster said as she walked up to her uncle and mumbled as spell to finish them off. Hex did the same, but Ben had no plans to die lying down. He kicked the one over him off as Gwen blasted hers with a spell. Then, they got up and ran at the magicians as their enemies' hands glowed with a deadly power. Once the energy was released, it arched strait for Ben and Gwen. The two beams of energy merged as they hit their target. The last thing Ben and Gwen heard was Hex's yell in frustration at his niece.

When Ben and Gwen woke up, they saw nothing. It was almost as if they were blinded. As sight slowly returned, Ben was the first to notice they were in a white bubble that overlooked a large, dark cavern. As the bubble took them closer, Ben saw something engraved on the left cavern wall. "Abandon all hope, ye who enter herein." Ben read aloud. The statement sent a shiver down his spine. "Do not fear, children. I only wish to show you a truth." A voice said from somewhere beyond them. As the bubble took them deeper, they came to a place where violent whirlwinds raged perpetually and carried lost souls on their winds. Ben shivered. "Dante's second circle: Lust." The boy indentified with a shiver. Gwen looked at him, surprised. "Just because I don't like boring facts doesn't mean I don't like to read." He said with a grin.

That's when Gwen saw something that made her want to scream in terror. The apparent warden of this circle was an older Kevin! "Ben, look!" She said as fear welled up in the girl. "Wow…it fits." Ben said passively. "The one you call Kevin is an incubus. He feeds off of the passions of women." The voice from afar explained. "You must stop him from cursing a couple very dear to both of you. Now, go!" With power running through the voice, Ben and Gwen disappeared and reappeared in the bushes as a green car with black racing strips raced by them. Ben went XLR8 and had Gwen get on his back before they shot off after the car. A few minutes later, they came to the car and ducked into some bushes. "Thirty minutes of continuous fire at .6 terawatts." He then pointed the weapon at a nearby tree and blasted the tree to bits. "Is that good enough?"

They watched patiently as weapons were exchanged for cash. That's when an odd-looking fish alien jumped out and said, "Hands above your heads, air breathers! You are under arrest by order of the Plumbers!" Ben facepalmed and was about to jump into action when something completely unexpected happened. An older version of Ben and Gwen jumped out of the bushes and began to fight the Forever Knights. More accurately, Gwendolyn fought while Benjamin mindlessly fiddled with the Omnitrix and ran from the fight. Ben looked at Gwen, befuddled. "That CAN'T be me!" Ben yelled in utter shock. He glared at his older self. "He hasn't worn the Omnitrix in a while," Ben observed. "It's recalibrating." He shook his head. "Until that thing reboots, Benjamin is useless. I'll help the other me." Gwen suggested as Ben nodded in agreement but groaned at having to protect his older yet stupider self.

As the DNAliens closed in on Benjamin, the Loboan pup rolled his eyes at the scene but sent the creatures running with some claws, fangs, and moves Gwen taught him. Then, Ben noticed that a frequency burst would render the Forever Knights' new weapons inert and possibly make them explode. "Cover your ears, Benjamin!" Ben growled with annoyance in his voice. Benjamin nodded. "How do you know my name?" Benjamin asked. His question was drowned out as Ben let out a sonic howl. The sound made the laser lances explode and knock any unfortunate Forever Knight with the weapon in hand back about twenty feet. Benjamin stared at the Loboan pup in shock. "How did you do that?" Benjamin asked with wide eyes. "Resonance Frequency…" Ben growled out. "You really are a doofus." Benjamin scratched his head at being called a doofus. Then, he followed the pup to the strangest sight ever.

Gwen and Gwendolyn were busy with the DNAliens. They fought with strength. "So…" Gwen began casually as she dogged the alien lugies. "Why is Benjamin such a dork?" She asked. Gwendolyn shrugged and kept blasting the creatures back with weird pink discs. "I tried to tutor him, but it never took." Gwendolyn said to her younger self as the bad guys started to thin out. Confused by Benjamin not wanting Gwendolyn's help, Gwen opened her mouth to ask but saw Ben out of the corner of her eye and smiled. "It's nice of you to join the party, Ben." Ben gave her a wolfish grin that quickly turned sour. "I would have been here sooner, but I had to protect Mr. No Defense Skill." He gestured to his older self. Gwen nodded with a slightly annoyed look aimed at Benjamin. "You have to straighten him out, girl." Gwen said with a shake of her head as Gwendolyn nodded.

Benjamin finally got his Omnitrix to work. "Aw…man! I don't recognize any of these guys!" "JUST PICK ONE AND GO, DOOFUS!" Both Gwens yelled in unison. Benjamin did and became this walking swamp weed. "Ugh…is that me?" Ben just shook his head. "Personal hygiene can wait!" Ben growled. "You give off methane! Spark it up, idiot." Benjamin nodded and made short work of the yellow and black aliens with Facehuggers as faces after he was told what to do like a child. Ben sighed and let his Loboan half retreat. Then, he slapped quite literally himself. "Do you know what you just did?" He growled. The older one looked at Ben in confusion. "Kevin's after-" Before Ben could finish his thought, Gwendolyn's piercing scream ripped through the air. Benjamin seemed to finally wake up when he heard her. "Let's get moving. No telling what he wants with her." Ben and Gwen paled. They knew exactly what the demon from Hell wanted with Gwendolyn.

Ben looked at Gwen and went Fourarms while Benjamin became this dinosaur thing. Ben leaped up and came back down on the hood of Kevin's car. The force of the impact crumpled the front end like a tin can. "My car!" Kevin yelled out with anguish in his voice. Benjamin picked up the back end of the car, with surprising gentleness took Gwendolyn out of Kevin's back seat and put her back down on the ground, and finished crushing Kevin's car into a ball. Then, Benjamin dropped the metallic wad on top of Kevin. Gwendolyn screamed bloody murder when she saw this, and Ben and Gwen looked at him pleased. "No, Benjamin! What did you do that for?" She began to sob. Kevin melted into a black inky form with red eyes. "He's not human." Benjamin growled in anger. "Get it together, Gwendolyn!" Benjamin told her as she looked on with glazed eyes. Kevin laughed in a demonic voice. "She is mine now, Benji." Kevin turned to Gwendolyn.

"Come, my pet." He said in a deceptively kind tone. "Yes…Master." Gwendolyn said in a zombie-like voice. Tears began to flow down Benjamin's face. "Gwen, don't you listen to that monster." He said as he choked back sobs. "I LOVE YOU!" He said as he kissed her gently on the lips. Gwendolyn blinked in shock. "B-Ben?" she groaned out. "What happened?" The smile on Benjamin's face was priceless. "I almost let someone make your life Hell because I was scared." He said sadly. "Ben, you know this can never be. We're-" Ben shivered at what he was about to reveal. His darkest secret. "Gwen, we're not related. The people I call Mom and Dad rescued me from my abusive father when I was eight." Benjamin told her. "I'm adopted, Gwendolyn." Gwendolyn's eyes went wide with surprise at first. Then, her entire face glowed with happiness before she kissed him joyously.

"Our work here is done," Ben told Gwen with a smile as they slipped into the bushes to give the teens some privacy. As they walked away from the happy scene, a portal opened which showed Hex and Charmcaster frozen in time. "Time to get back to work." Gwen said with a smile as she and Ben walked through the portal. On the other side, Ben and Gwen resumed their battle with Charmcaster and Hex. The two evil magic wielders looked on is shock as Ben and Gwen stepped out of the portal. "You fool, Charmcaster!" Hex bellowed with burning rage. "Where did you teleport them to?!" Charmcaster blanched with fear at her uncle's fury. Gwen saw this and looked at Ben, who nodded. _Divide and conquer._ They thought as they used the distraction to quickly clean up. Ben and Gwen decided they needed to talk to Charmcaster and at least offer her an alternative to her verbally abusive uncle, but before they could even attempt to talk to the sorceress, she and her uncle were gone in one of their famous disappearing acts. "That could have gone better." Ben mumbled as he hung his head. Gwen put a hand on Ben's shoulder and said, "It'll work out, Ben. Don't worry."

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	6. Healing

Chapter Six: Healing

Ben had a sinking feeling in his gut as he went to sleep that night. His mind drifted to the Rustbucket as he stared up at the posters that were hung all over his room. _Good night, Gwen._ Ben thought to himself as his mind drifted back to when he and his Mom and Dad had to stay at Gwen's house while their house was being repaired because of a "freak framing support failure". The thought of them in the same house made gentle and kind warmth cover the young boy's body and made him smile. As he thought back, Ben remembered how odd it seemed to Carl and Sandra that he and Gwen were so close. Ben chuckled lightly at the secret sleepovers they had. Ben would make a pallet next to Gwen's bed and wake just before daylight to move back into his room. It was fun and made Ben feel better. After the dream the night after Vilgax attacked the school where he was unable to protect Gwen from Vilgax or Kevin because he didn't have the Omnitrix, Ben felt as if he had to guard Gwen. Such a thing didn't strike Ben as strange at the time, but now, it made sense to him. As Ben drifted off, a familiar yellow-orange portal opened.

Ben's eyes snapped open, and he quickly got dressed. Then, the young hero sprinted out of the door. Once outside, Ben saw the limping form of who he assumed was Gwendolyn walk painfully to him. Her body was covered in bruises and gashes. Ben felt his anger rise at the sight. Then, his eyes adjusted to the night, and Ben saw Charmcaster's creepy shrunken head bag on her hip. "I had to escape…" She said weakly as she coughed. Ben could see speckles of blood in Charmcaster's hand as she pulled it away from her mouth thanks to the glow of a distant street light. "I'll get Mom and Dad." Charmcaster's face showed absolute fear when Ben mentioned his parents. Ben facepalmed and looked at the wounded sorceress apologetically. "I can get Gwen instead." Ben suggested. At this, Charmcaster smiled weakly. "Come inside." Ben said as he gestured to the door on this unusually chilly night. "Charmcaster…" Ben stopped when he saw her wince at the name. "My name is Charity." She said as Ben nodded and amended his offer. "Charity, why don't you wait inside while I get Gwen?" The teen gratefully nodded and hurried inside.

Sandra and Carl were taken out of sleep as and a door shut and was followed closely by shuffling. The fear in Sandra's eyes was unmistakable as Carl sat up and pulled a Colt .45 out of the nightstand. Stay here." Carl whispered as he crept out the door and down the hall silently. A creak of a loose floorboard made Carl's eyes dart left to right in heightened adrenaline. There was the *clank!* of glass up ahead of the man along with the soft closing of the refrigerator door. "Who's there?" Carl called out as he cocked the hammer back. There was a gasp followed by quick footsteps toward the couch. The intruder tripped over the couch and hit the headrest before she cried out in pain. Carl quickly flipped on a light switch and looked in absolute shock at the sight before him. "Sandra, come down here quick and bring the first aid kit." He said to her calmly as Ben and Gwen walked in the door.

Ben saw the gun and glared at his father. "Dad, please put that away." He said calmly. "If she wanted to hurt us, she would have done it by now. Believe me." Carl had a realization. "You've fought before?" He asked. Ben nodded. "She usually stayed back though…" Gwen gagged. "…except when we swapped bodies." Charity looked over at Ben and Gwen. "I'm sorry about that, guys. Uncle threatened to kill me if I didn't do it. I didn't want to be stuck in Ben's body anymore than you did." She said with a shiver. She then smiled with a mischievous gleam in her eye. "That's why you got swapped in the first place. Lover Boy…." She gestured to Ben who turned red as a tomato. "…was trying to get you off the runaway carriage." Gwen smirked at Ben and kissed him gently.

"Wait!" Carl said as he glared at the teenager in magenta and purple robes on his couch. "Why are you helping her? She's tried to kill both of you before it sounds like." He said. Both Ben and Gwen got between the man and Charity ads the girl cowered down behind them. "She was coerced, Dad!" Ben growled as the hair on the back of Ben's neck stood up as a warning. Carl nodded. "I trust you both." He told them as he backed off and let Sandra tend to Charity's wounds. Once Sandra did all she could with the kit, her maternal instinct took over. She took the girl to the bathroom, drew a hot bath, and helped do what Charity couldn't because of pain. "Call if you need anything." Sandra said as she looked back before leaving the room. Charity nodded. "Thank you," she said with a grateful smile before she sank into the soothing water.

Hex was not in a mood to be trifled with. "When I find you Charmcaster, there won't be a body to bury once I'm done!" He growled as he used a spell connected to her charm bag to find his wayward apprentice. Charity was just changing into some clothes Sandra lent her some clothes that were a little small but fit well enough for the time being when her bag started to glow. "Shit!" The girl cried out as she quickly tried to hide the bag with a concealment spell. She felt her Uncle's power lose focus and shrink away from the bag. As she sighed with relief, Charity was almost certain her uncle was furious. She would be right. The hooded magician's eyes rolled and tossed with flames of fury. "I will find you, Charmcaster. When I do, you will regret running from me." Hex growled as he used a spell to try and pinpoint the last location of the bag. After the relaxing bath and not yet aware of her uncle's effort to find her, Charity settled into the couch and drifted into the first bit of peaceful sleep she was able to have since her parents died.

Charity was woken up by Hex's mystical probing and hurriedly got dressed in the borrowed clothes from Ben's mother. Then, she woke Gwen up gently who was snuggled up next to Ben on the couch across from the door. "What is it, Charity?" Gwen asked sleepily. Then, she felt the effects of Hex's location spell and jumped into action. "Gwen…don't leave." Ben mumbled sleepily. "He's got it bad." Charity said with a grin but there was also a hint of sadness in her voice as if she knew something bad was going to happen to Ben and Gwen's budding romance in the future as Gwen nodded and turned to the sleeping boy. "Wake up, Doofus!" She said. "We have a hero emergency." Ben shot up and looked at her in distaste. "You know how ever since we met that Jerk Me I don't like being called a hero." He groaned. Gwen punched him in the arm lightly, "It's still the quickest way to get you up, Ben." She said with a small smile as Ben stood and stretched.

Ben's enhanced hearing picked up the faint sound of multiple car alarms in the local parking garage a few blocks away. "Hex isn't very subtle." He grumbled as the girl's looked at him in confusion. Ben forgot that his hearing was better than theirs and explained. "Hex is tearing up a parking garage a few blocks from here." Gwen looked at Charity in surprise. The teen shrugged, looked at the duo, and said "Even a master magician can have an off day." Ben and Gwen nodded. Gwen pulled out her spell book and mumbled, "Motis instia aqui!" Blue energy surrounded them and took them to a pillar about three hundred feet away from the sorcerer. Charity smiled at Gwen. "Your skills have improved, I see." She whispered. Ben sighed. Then, he got an idea. "Use a concealment spell on yourselves. I'll get his staff." Ben said as the girls nodded and chanted said spell. Ben went XLR8 and rocketed toward Hex. Then, Ben blindsided him with a speed-enhanced punch and took his staff. The magician looked around in a red fury. "Charmcaster, where are you, you traitorous worm?!" Charity smirked while invisible and gave Hex half of a two-fisted knuckle sandwich to the face with Gwen's fist as the other half of that sandwich. "I'm right here, Uncle! My name is Charity!" She growled at him as Ben quickly taped the sorcerer's mouth shut.

After the cops came by and hauled away Hex, Charity took her Uncle's symbol of oppression over her and handed it to Gwen with a sad look on her f ace. Gwen noticed and asked, "Why aren't you happy?" Ben piped up and said, "If I was you, I'd be celebrating." The girl sighed. "Hex killed your Grandmother before my parents died and took her staff as a trophy." Gwen's eyes got huge. "So, Hex's staff is actually…" The girl trailed off and looked at Charity in disbelief. "…by all rights yours, Gwen. That's why it fired when you held it. The staff had a spell over it which Hex corrupted to be able to use it. Otherwise, only you would be able to use it, and the staff's energy would be blue like your spells, Gwen." Gwen almost passed out at the news. Ben chuckled. "Gwen, stay with me." She smiled and managed to regain her composure but looked up at Charity and knew the girl was hiding something painful of vital importance from the couple.

"Hold onto each other and never let go." She said with a darkening expression. Gwen blinked in shock. "Gwendolyn said something similar to me about Ben." She squeezed Ben's hand tight as fear overtook her. "Will Ben die?!" She asked, terrified of the answer. Gwen looked up to see Charity was gone. In seeming response to Gwen's question, the staff in her hands glowed with a light blue hue and emitted an orb which Gwen willed big enough for her and Ben to see what it showed clearly. An older Ben was on stage in a smoky bar and looked at the patrons with clear pain in his eyes. "I'd like to dedicate this song to a bride who stole my heart when we were young but will give her heart away to another this afternoon. Gwen, this song is for you." With that introduction to the song he was about to sing, the older Ben on stage launched into a heartfelt cover of "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton. He broke down in the final chorus and apologized to the crowd profusely through tears. A girl in the crowd said, "Only a true bitch could break a man like that." The older Ben sighed and utterly heartbroken said, "As of four PM today, she will be Mrs. Gwen Levin." Gwen could not believe her ears. With an angry flare of her hand, Gwen banished the vision and looked into Ben's eyes with fierce determination in her own. "Ben, I swear until the day after I'm dead I will never leave you."

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	7. Dangerous Nightmares and Mythos

Chapter Seven: Dangerous Nightmares and Mythos

As Gwen woke up the following morning, she was instantly made aware of a presence in her room. The girl's body shot up as adrenaline coursed through her. Gwen looked around her room with searching eyes. After the nightmare she had, who could blame the girl. The world from where she woke up was an utter disaster. As her mind reviewed the dream, she shivered. Gwen was back in the Rustbucket, but everything was off and a little bizarre. For starters, Ben was…not himself. The boy she loved was not that miserable imitation or as stupid as the one she encountered in the dream she woke from. The Ben in her nightmare seemed like a badly done comic. He was pointing and swatting at things in the air as he spoke as if the words turned to tangible objects as he spoke them. Then, she saw herself and almost broke into a rant about how imbecilic her dream self looked. Then, the Dream Ben noticed her and smiled. "Hey, cuz, what's up?" Gwen tried not to freak out. "No insult, Ben? What's wrong with you, Doofus? " Dream Ben's face contorted into a Limax. "So," It said in a watery voice. "You figured it out, Gwen?" The others in the RV jumped on her.

That's when Gwen woke up. The presence in her room lingered as she looked around but shrank away slightly as the girl sat up in her bed. "I didn't mean to startle you, Granddaughter." The gentle voice said as Gwen's staff that rested on the wall fell over, and its head rested against the bed. Gwen's eyes went wide. "Grandma, how…?" Gwen asked as her eyes widened at the sight of the staff moving and the sorceress' voice in the staff. "I will be able to guide you through your staff." .Gwen heard annoyance in the woman's voice. "The staff is not its natural form, is it?" The girl asked as she held the staff in her hands and felt it fighting against the remnant of Hex's corruption. She closed her eyes and let her magical aura purge the staff. As the staff went from a yellow halo to green and finally to blue, it shrank and changed to a silver miniature of an animate gryphon. The gryphon then crawled onto her left hand's ring finger and wrapped around it. Gwen grinned and started getting ready to go to school. When she came to the kitchen, Gwen smiled when she saw Grandpa Max and was relieved to see no sign of her nightmare affected him.

Max saw her look and gave her a concerned and intrigued expression as they walked out to the Rustbucket. As Max and Gwen got in the Rustbucket, Max's breath caught in surprise at the sight of his late wife's magic ring on his granddaughter's figure. _So, you chose her?_ He thought with a smile. As they came up to the school, Gwen beamed when she saw Ben. Ben seemed downcast and didn't notice her right away. " _What's wrong, Ben?_ Gwen thought as she walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Ben jumped at her sudden touch. _Damn_ _nightmare…_ Ben's mind growled as he looked up into Gwen's softy gaze. "I'm sorry, Gwen. I didn't sleep well last night." He told her. "It was Limax." She whispered, but Ben's ears caught her words. "You, too?" He asked. She turned to look at him in surprise. "Yeah…that's weird." Gwen said as the bell rang to let them in the school. As they entered the school, a green blob slithered its way into the teacher's lounge and took the form of one of Ben's teachers, Ms. McCreedy.

As the impostor walked in the room, Ben felt his instincts go wild as he saw the woman. "Something's not right, Gwen." Ben whispered to the girl next to him as she nodded. Gwen then saw her ring spark and direct her hand toward the glass of water on the teacher's desk. Ben's hair stood up on the back of his neck as he looked at the teacher. She glared at one of the students and asked, "What is that doing on my deck?" She growled. The timid girl shrank away. "You always get a glass of water during class, Miss McCreedy." The girl told her. The woman glared at the girl, got in her face, and growled, "I DON"T NEED WATER!" Gwen and Ben nodded to each other. "Don't move, Limax!" Ben growled. The imposter smiled. "What do you mean, Ben?" The alien shape-shifter smiled at Ben and Gwen in an attempt to disarm their suspicions. Ben smirked. "Drop dead, you old hag!" Ben growled as the class gasped in shock at Ben's shift. The teacher look-a-like just smiled and shrugged off the insult. "Good one, Ben. I haven't heard that one before." Ben and Gwen looked at Cash and JT. "Get everyone out of here, you dunces!" Gwen growled as the two class bullies didn't waste time. "You heard the lady!" Cash growled as he pushed everyone toward the exits. "This will be messy." JT mumbled.

In the classroom, Ben and Gwen tensed in preparation for a battle. The Limax smirked and shed its human disguise. "Finally, I can trash the two of you human nuisances!" Ben smirked and let his Loboan half. He then snapped at the monster. "Who are you calling human, snot wad?" Ben growled as he attacked the blob. As Ben slashed and clawed at the monster, he quickly realized he would have to outsmart the monster instead of fight it with brute force. He then smirked as he saw the sprinkler heads to the fire system above them. Gwen nodded. "Pyros Ignitum!" Gwen growled. Her hand burst into a ball of flame as magic insulated her hand from the flame. Then, the Limax smiled and laughed at her. "Did you learn anything from our last encounter?" It growled as amusement. Gwen just grinned and threw the flame into a sprinkler.

The alarms went off, and water rained down on them. As the ameba alien shrieked in pain and terror at the water, other screams of agony joined in. Ben and Gwen paled at the echoing sound and sprinted for the doors. "Everyone, get away from the school!" Ben yelled as he yowled in pain as the intense sunlight hit Ben's sensitive eyes. The yell of pain made Gwen turn on her heel and sprint toward Ben. The boy got to his feet and groaned in aggravation at his Loboan quirks. "I'll be alright, Gwen. Just warn me to close my eyes before we run outside again." She nodded as she smiled at him. The smile faded as a massive blob broke through the doors of the school. The kids behind Ben and Gwen screamed and began to run like a herd of panicked antelope. Ben and Gwen grinned, looked at each other, and took their battle stances.

As Ben ran at the monster, he saw Gwen running beside him and smiled. As he dodged and ducked under and away from the creature's attacks, Ben started to hum and get in rhythm to "You had me from Hello" Kenny Chesney. Gwen smiled as she saw a fire hydrant on the street corner. "Ben, slice and dice the hydrant!" The boy nodded, went Diamondhead, and cut the top off the hydrant. Water gushed from its uncapped maw. Gwen smiled and said, "Hydro Serpentus!" The hand with the ring on it glowed brightly, and energy wrapped around the water. Then, Gwen started to spray the monster. As it shrank, the monster shrieked and screamed in pain. That is until it shank to human size. Then, it started laughing, lunged for Gwen and quickly turned into a duplicate Gwen.

As the Gwens tumbled on the ground and rolled around in a classic catfight, Ben looked at them in confusion as he tried to figure out which one was the genuine article. When Ben lost his hope to tell by sight, the boy closed his eyes and cleared his mind like a Jedi. Ben calmed his breathing and listened. As the girls fought, Ben could only tell that one copy's breathing was calmer. Ben reached out a hand with his eyes still shut. He felt a tendril of something he couldn't identify attach to the creature. On instinct, Ben feed power into the tendril and connection as he spoke. "Hurry, Doofus!" The real Gwen said frantically. The tendril wavered and almost snapped at Gwen's terrified voice, but Ben turned his fear of losing her on itself and fed the emotion into the connection. Ben felt a rush of cold roll through his body and gritted his teeth as the fear built itself into anger and solidified the connection. As Ben opened his eyes, any Star Wars fan would freak out. His eyes glowed Sith yellow! The words of Yoda's warning to young Anakin came to Ben. "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." Ben fought the building urge to crush the beast to nothing as his anger boiled.

The young boy brought peace to his mind by thinking of his and Gwen's future together. Ben felt gentle warmth replace the cold and put that through the connection as he said, "You will let go of the real Gwen, walk away, and never come to Earth again." To Ben's utter shock, the creature, in a zombie tone that Ben recognized as the voice of someone under the influence of a Jedi Mind Trick, said, "I will let go of the real Gwen, walk away, and never come to Earth again." Then, the creature let Gwen go and trudged away in a trance. Gwen looked at Ben in shock as she got up and walked over to Ben as the boy collapsed from the strain.

She stumbled over her words in a panic after what she just saw Ben do. "W-what…how the...that's Jedi…" Ben was shaken out of his state by Gwen's panic. He looked at her and smiled. Something in Ben felt opened at that moment. He couldn't try to explain even if he did know what just happened. "I…don't know, Gwen. All I thought about was saving you, and I didn't know which one was which. In an attempt to solve the problem, I listened to Obi-Wan from Episode IV." Gwen sighed, "Which movie was that and which character?" Ben chuckled. "Obi-wan was the old human Jedi from the first one. He told Luke 'Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them.' I guess there was more truth to that than intended." Ben said calmly. Gwen shook her boyfriend. "BEN! You just Jedi Mind Tricked an alien that was about to kill me!" As Gwen yelled at Ben, it finally took hold in the boy. "I'm a Force-Wielder!"

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	8. Hope

Chapter Eight: Hope

(Star Wars is owned by Lucas Film LLC. This is a work of pure Fanfiction.)

22 BBY

Across space and time, a small ship came into the view against the blackness of space. The ship's comparatively large fuselage for its small size and odd wing deployment that looked like a "T" put on its side without the left side of the top identified the ship as the _Twilight_ , Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker's personal ship. In the copilot's seat was the sixteen year old Togruta named Ahsoka Tano. She looked around worriedly for her long time friend and father-figure Master Plo Koon. Debris was everywhere and the attitudes of the Jedi Council were grim at best, but hope stayed alive in Ahsoka as she looked around the debris field. A flash of light brought her attention to the corner of the viewport. "Master, there!" Ahsoka shouted as she pointed. Anakin nodded and brought the ship around for a better view and saw the parts of battle droids floating in the vacuum of space. "Ahsoka, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't call me 'Master' except around other Jedi. It makes me uncomfortable." Anakin told her as he shivered at his memories of slavery under Watto back on Tatooine. Ahsoka noticed the subtle fear and pain in her teacher's body language but decided to file that away to ask about later. Right now, they had to search for survivors.

"This is Ahsoka Tano. Does anyone copy?" The Padawan asked over the radio. There was a garbled response. "Anakin, we have something! Artooie, boot the reception!" Ahsoka said happily as a reply of beeps and whistles came from the blue astromech before he followed the order. As the Padawan and Master chased the signal, Ahsoka got a subtle pull from the Force and looked to her left. In the light of the ship's high beams, there were three clones visible as Master Plo Koon stood triumphantly on top of the pod. Ahsoka smiled happily at her friend as he and the clones were brought onboard. As the clones were taken back to tended to by the medical droid, _The Malevolence_ came into view. "That is one big cruiser-crusher!" Ahsoka said in awe of the massive flagship. Master Plo Koon sprinted to the controls. "We have to shut down all power now!' The Jedi Master said as he started flipping switches. Ahsoka nodded and shut Artoo down so that the droid couldn't tip off Separatist scanners. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as it seemed the ship would go unnoticed by the Clankers. That's when the medical droid decided to walk in. Everyone watched the massive flagship turn broadside to target them. "The medical droid…" Plo announced as Anakin mentally face palmed. "Time to move!" Anakin said with slight annoyance in his voice.

Ahsoka quickly turned on Artoo. The droid sounded confused as he beeped and whistled. "None of that matters right now!" Ahsoka told him. "We need to go anywhere but here!" She told him. The droid got to work through the access port and quickly programmed the navigations computer. As soon as the computer had the solutions needed, Anakin hit the throttle. An irate General Grievous watched as the ship disappeared into Hyperspace. "Was the tracer placed on the freighter's hull?' He asked as he turned to an unlucky battle droid lieutenant who said, "Roger. Roger." Grievous smashed the droid to pieces. "What are you waiting for?! FOLLOW THEM!" The droids in the room just gave mechanical nods to the general. Then, the massive flagship disappeared into Hyperspace after them.

Anakin and Ahsoka calmly talked as Hyperspace flew by the pair through the viewports. Ahsoka sat up and looked at Anakin as she remembered what she wanted to ask when she could. _Now is the perfect time._ She thought to herself. _He can't run from the question in Hyperspace._ "Anakin," She began. The person being called looked at his Padawan. "Why don't you like being called 'Master'?" Anakin let out a deep sigh. "I was born into slavery on my home world." He told her as Ahsoka gasped. "I thought…" Anakin looked at her with anger and hurt in his eyes. "I'm from the Outer Rim." Anakin explained to her. "Out there, the Republic has no control. It's a lawless part of the Galaxy. Anything goes." Ahsoka shivered at the picture her teacher painted. "That's all in the past, Anakin." Ahsoka said as she smiled at him. "Living in the past is painful and unhealthy." She saw his subtle look of horror in her teacher's eyes. "I'm not telling you to forget the past. Remember the good, but forget the bad." She said with a soft smile. Anakin returned the smile. "Yes, Jedi Master Tano." They both laughed at that.

AD 2004 (Galactic Standard Date: ca. 1,500,000 BBY)

On Earth, Ben and Gwen were sitting down to supper, Ben with his parents and Gwen with Grandpa Max. Carl smiled at his son. "I heard there was some excitement down at the school today." Carl said as he and Sandra shared a worried look at their son. The boy smiled. "It wasn't anything Gwen and I couldn't handle. Some old enemies from the summer when we visited a retirement community where Aunt Vera's living paid a visit to the school and took all the teachers for meals to go. Gwen and I sent them packing." Carl smiled. "I'm glad you have Gwen with you.' Ben nodded. "Me too." He seemed a bit down when he said, "The school got trashed, though." This surprised Carl and Sandra both. Then, Sandra smiled at Ben. "I see Gwen's attitude toward school is rubbing off on you." Ben reluctantly nodded. "I actually WANT to learn with her there because I like how happy it makes her to see me interested in school." Sandra smiled at her son. He wasn't the same boy who left on Summer Vacation. No, he was more mature and happier. It was no contest. Gwen had already done Ben a lot of good and would continue to do so. That's When the phone rang. As Ben picked it up, he started calming the person on the other end down. "Gwen...Gwen, slow down…" Ben's eyes went wide as he continued to listen. "I'll be right there!" With a quick glance at his parents and a nod of approval from them, Ben hug up the phone, went XLR8, and shot off towards Gwen's house.

As the _Twilight_ came out of Hyperspace, Anakin was instantly put on edge. They weren't at the rendezvous point with the fleet. Instead, the Jedi and Padawan stared through the viewport at a blue marble world with a rocky, grey moon next to it. "Artoo, where are we?" Anakin asked the droid which beeped, clicked, and whistled a response. The Jedi Knight nodded. "Well, let's see if the inhabitants of this world are friendly to outsiders." Ahsoka offered. Anakin nodded. "I guess we have little choice, Snips." Ahsoka felt her cheeks turn red at the nickname. _Why am I blushing?_ The Togruta hid her face in her hands as she rubbed her face to conceal the blushing.

"Man, that was a long trip." She mumbled as she yawned, stretched, and got up. "We're not out of the woods yet!" Anakin exclaimed suddenly. "Strap in, Snips! We're caught in the planet's gravity well. The ship's coming in too fast!" He told her right before the viewport was blacked out by uprooted grass and topsoil. For a brief second, Anakin held his breath as Ahsoka didn't move and felt a strange since of relief wash over him when she did move. Master Plo Koon and the clones rushed forward. "Is everyone alright?" Plo asked as Ahsoka and Anakin both nodded. "Then, I suggest we have a look at this strange world to see if we can find help." The others nodded and disembarked from the ship. They were not expecting an older human, a human girl, and a biped blue and black creature with wheels for feet to be staring at the passengers from the bottom of the loading ramp.

Ben, Gwen, and Grandpa Max looked at the passengers of the crashed ship in fascination. Max was interested in the two aliens from races he'd never seen before. Ben was about to totally lose it when he saw the two Jedi Masters leave the ship with an alien girl between them. Ben figured it was safe to assume she was the Padawan Learner to one of the Jedi Masters. Then, Ben noticed the clones, and his face turned white as a sheet because Grandpa Max took him and Gwen to see "Revenge of the Sith" during the RV trip. Gwen noticed the look of fear on Ben's face and looked at him in worry. "What's wrong, Ben?" She asked him with concern evident in her voice. Ben took her hand and lead her away from the group with wary eyes on the clones. "Those clones…they turn on the Jedi and kill them all." Gwen gasped. Then she looked back at the clones and finally rested her eyes on Ben's face. "They must be from a time between Episodes II and III." Ben reasoned. Something else hit the boy. "If I'm right about the timing, then, the human Jedi is Anakin before he became Vader." Gwen's eyes widened. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. He's a good guy…for now." Ben explained with a solemn voice at that last statement. "They turn on us, and those hardened soldiers will find out what happens when you piss off a Tennyson." Gwen said calmly. Ben nodded, and together they walked back to the others.

Ahsoka smiled at the children, but she felt something interesting about the boy. "Master Anakin," she told him. "You feel it. Don't you?" Anakin nodded. "May I see that device on your wrist?" Anakin asked Ben. Ben smirked and let him inspect it. "Life energy and DNA?" Anakin asked. Ben nodded. "Interesting…new lifeforms could form if the DNA was free to mingle in the device." Ben's eyes went wide. "The Omnitrix could make Midichlorians!" Ben yelled. "Not could," Master Plo Koon said calmly as he looked at Ben. "The device did. You release them every time you change." Anakin said kindly. Ben sighed as he looked up at the sky as he saw _The Malevolence_ in the edhe of his upward vision. "Gwen, we're about to have unwanted company of the Clanker kind." Ben said as the Jedi and clones nodded. "Ion cannon…" Ahsoka mumbled mournfully.

Gwen giggled. "That's what you're worried about?" She asked. Ben smiled and went Stinkfly. "We get close enough and you can ignite the power core." Gwen nodded. "Take it out before it gets a chance to attack. That's a proactive, effective, and sneaky plan, Ben. I like it." Stinkfly smiled. "I'll be able to get close enough to give you a good shot." Gwen nodded, mumbled a fire spell, and held it back until Ben and Gwen were safely away. Once the spell was released, the fireworks were glorious. "Nice…" Anakin said with a grin as Ben and Gwen landed in front of the bewildered Jedi and clones. "Told you it would be cake." Ben said calmly.

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	9. Alliances

Chapter Nine: Alliances

Grievous was having a fit as he glared at the battle droids in the bridge with him as he looked through the dirt covered viewpoint. "What brought us down?!" He growled as he glared into the blocked viewport. "Scanners aren't picking up anything, sir. It seems we've landed on a primitive and neutral world. Dirt probably covered the scanning dishes." One battle droid told him. "I know that fool!" He saidas he glared at the droid. Then, Grievous laughed darkly. "Maybe I can still salvage this day." He said as he coughed a few times and growled, "Send down a battalion. I want to welcome this world to The Separatist Alliance myself." He said as he went to disembark.

Ben sighed as he landed and Gwen got off his back. He noticed the Jedi were tense as they readied their weapon's "Grievous doesn't go down so easily, Youngling." Anakin said to him. _So, he's like Vilgax?_ Gwen thought as she sighed in annoyance. "That's just what we need: another Vilgax." She3 mumbled as the clones and Jedi looked at Ben and Gwen in confusion. "He's probably someone you don't need to worry about." Ben told them. "We've-" Ben's ears twitched. Gwen noticed Ben's look and looked at him worriedly. "What is it, Ben?" Suddenly, Ben's eyes went wide. "Move! Move! MOVE!" Ben yelled as he turned, started sprinting away, and scooped up Gwen in his dash away from the ship. Not a second or two later, a piece of plating flew from the ship with explosive force. From the hole poured battle droids by the hundreds.

The clones smirked under their helmets, and Ben got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. When the Jedi ignited their sabers, poor Ben wasn't prepared for that and stared in slack jawed amazement at the Jedi. Gwen glared at Ben. "Ben, you can ask for autographs later!" She slapped him. That woke the Ben up and brought him out of the trance. "Now's not the time to go fanboy!" She said as she ran at the droid army and attacked them with different spells. Ben nodded and ran after her. "A battalion should have…tanks." Ben groaned to himself as he attacked the droids. Between the Jedi and clones, droids didn't stand a chance normally, but with Ben and Gwen added to the mix, it wasn't a battle; it was a slaughter.

Ben sighed and shook his head as Grievous walked out. Ben saw the head Clanker and thought. _Let's get the gloating over with._ Grievous didn't go into a Superiority Monologue like Ben expected. Instead, he laughed and charged the Jedi. As Ben and Gwen watched the battle, Master Plo Koon seemed to be the one out of the loop and tried to assist without getting in the way of Anakin and Ahsoka's rhythm which proved almost impossible. As Anakin and Ahsoka fought Grievous, Ben saw much of himself and Gwen in the two Jedi. When one slacked off or missed a strike, the other compensated. Soon, Grievous was backed into a strategic corner between the three Jedi. Being the warrior he was, Grievous always had a retreat plan. That's when he saw the human girl with fire for hair. The general's eyes squinted in what would have been a smile had the general had any similitude to an organic mouth. He rolled out of blade lock with the Jedi and put a light saber blade to Gwen's neck. "Surrender, or she dies!" He said with a dark tone.

Ben's eyes turned to fury in an instant. The boy marched up to Gwen and willed the blade held to her neck by the overgrown Clanker to retract back into its hilt. The Jedi watched in stunned silence as the blade obeyed Ben's command with a hissing whine as it reentered the hilt of the saber. Ben then pushed Gwen behind him and glared at Grievous with no fear at all, only determination. "You just messed with the wrong girl, Tin Man." Gwen said calmly as Ben hit the Omnitrix. "Let's see how you do in a fair fight, asshole!" Ben said calmly as he became Fourarms and slammed an uppercut into the monster's face. Grievous was stunned. It had been almost half a century since he last engaged in hand to hand with anyone. He could just look at most of his enemies the wrong way, and they would run scared. This BOY had the wherewithal to attack him with no weapon except his fists! For the first time in a long time, the warrior felt not just fear but terror as the red creature's eyes never wavered in keeping Grievous' gaze.

Grievous growled as he pushed the terror aside and ran forward with his sabers spinning as the familiar sound of a rapidly moving saber and the sound of cutting echoed in Ben's ears. Ben smiled at Grievous' attempted intimidation tactic. Without thinking, he yelled out, "Get some new material. So you can spin your sabers like batons, I'm so scared!" He said in mock fright. Grievous let out a furious growl. "I will slice you to ribbons, boy!" Anakin was about to run to assist when Gwen held him back "That little boyfriend of yours is going to get into a lot of trouble." Gwen sighed. "Oh, he excels at that, sir." Ben smiled. "You have no army, you no good poor excuse for a soup can. What are you going to do?" Ben asked as he ripped Grievous' extra set of arms with his own and sliced open Grievous' chest with the saber in the general's extra right arm. Gwen saw the opening and wretched a blaster from the hands of a clone and shot Grievous in what passed for his chest. The area consisted of a semi-opaque sack with organs in it. "Gross!" Gwen said with disgust as she fired the blaster. The first shot sent Grievous down. Then, Ben followed the shot up with a crushing fist to Grievous' face. The Jedi stared in shock at what Ben just did as the boy returned to his human form. "What? I did what I had to do." Ben said calmly.

Gwen sighed. "Come on guys." She said to them as Max looked at the Jedi and sighed. "You need to change clothes. Anyone who sees you will swarm all of you." Max warned them as he got confused looks from the Jedi and clones. "Jedi are famous here," Gwen said as she told a half truth. "Clones are famous, too, but for a different not-so-great reason." Ben added as he looked at them but stayed on the Clones for just a fraction of a second longer than the Jedi. "How does your world know of us?" Ahsoka asked, perplexed. Ben thought about a way to explain it without ripping the Space-Time Continuum apart and chuckled as he thought of a solution that would sound plausible to the Jedi. "An old Seer named Gorge Lucas had visions of the future, but due to his inept knowledge of the Ashla and Bogan, he misinterpreted the visions as happening far away in the past." Ben explained as the Jedi nodded understandingly. "Do you have a record of these visions so that we may see them?" Master Plo Koon asked. Ben smiled at the prospect of the characters watching their own movie series, but then his face darkened as he considered the consequences of such a viewing. Gwen walked up to him. "It could throw a monkey wrench into Palpatine's plot." Gwen said with a smirk. Ben looked at Gwen shocked. She shrugged. "I like to read the EU Novels" She said as she punched him playfully.

Ben nodded to Gwen and said, "We can show you, but you might not like what you find." He warned them. Everyone in the outlander party nodded. "Sometimes the Force shows us things we do not wish to see for our betterment." Master Plo Koon said calmly. "It's decided then. We'll-" Max was cut off as an energy blast made them scatter. "Clankers?" a Clone asked once they recovered. "No…someone much worse." Ben said with a glare as Vilgax's pod hit the ground in front of them and opened to show Ben's nemesis, Vilgax. "Hello, Tennyson." The Jedi ignited their sabers. "You got some help, you pathetic human?" Ben shook his head . "This is between you and me!" Ben growled as Vilgax laughed. "I couldn't agree more." He said as twenty drones came down. "More Clankers?" a Clone asked as he and the Jedi got ready for a fight. "Not quite," Gwen said as she and the Jedi attacked the drones.

Ben and Vilgax clashed in deadly Tango. Gwen shook her head at how easily they defeated the drones with the Jedi's help. Then, Gwen turned her sights on Vilgax."Stoma suprus!" She said as magic made her body and clothes grow to a foot or two taller than Vilgax. The Jedi and Clones looked at Gwen in shock as she marched toward Vilgax. Vilgax looked at the now giant Gwen in shock as she and Vilgax clashed on more equal terms. Ben and Gwen quickly put Vilgax on the retreat, but he saw the body of Grievous. Vilgax smiled, picked up the body, and teleported back to his ship with a deadly smirk. "This day goes to you, Tennyson, but the final victory shall be mine!"

Ben growled and stuck an outer bulkhead of the Malevolence in anger. "Damn it! There's no telling what he'll do with the tech that is most of the abomination's body." He growled. Gwen smiled gently and put a hand on Ben's shoulder with a kind but somber expression. "We'll get him next time, Ben." She said as she kissed him gently. "Right now, we have more pressing matter. We have to destroy Darth Vader." The Jedi looked at her in shock. Ben held up a hand. "Before we explain, there's something I have to take care of so nothing ad happens to eitherJedi or Clones during the marathon." He told them as he went Upgrade and removed the Clone control chips, so the Clones wouldn't attack the Jedi during Episode III's "Order 66" Scene. The Clones grimaced as Upgrade deactivated their chips and removed them completely. "What did you do?" Anakin asked. "You'll see." Gwen said sadly before she continued with her explanation of the ways of the Sith. "The Rule of Two is nothing more than informal law." She said. "There are many other students of the Dark Side, I'm afraid." She said as they piled in The Rustbucket and headed to Ben's house to get the movies for them to watch. "This will give you a better view of your master's past…" Ben's voice became low and sad. "…and his possible future, Ahsoka." Ben said as Ahsoka and Anakin shared a worried look as Ben pressed play for Episode I.

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	10. Revelations and Revultion

Chapter Ten: Revelations and Revulsion

Ben sighed in happiness as the theme played during the introduction to The Phantom Menace. He couldn't help it and turned into John Williams for the song. The boy's hands moved about with perfect sync to the music. Gwen was stunned as the boy showed a hidden part of himself. "I didn't know you were into music like that?" Ben smiled. "You don't know everything about me…" He said with a smile as he continued to appear to guide the music as it flowed out of the screen and faded into the negotiations party of Qui-Gon Gin and Obi-Won Kenobi. As the movie progressed, Anakin became more and more nervous. He was a little confused when Qui-Gon ran into a brain dead Gungan. He continued to be frustrated as he tried to place the being. Ben noticed and looked at him. "You don't know who Jar Jar is?" He asked. Anakin nodded which Ben returned. "I always thought he was added in." Ben mumbled as the movie finally came to Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon's landing on Tatooine. Anakin sighed. "I really hate that dust ball." Anakin said with a sigh as the Nubian ship landed on the dusty world. Qui-Gon sighed and started the trek to the settlement with Padme and Jar Jar in tow. Anakin shook his head in mild annoyance at the Gungan while Ahsoka laughed quietly to herself at the clumsy antics. Then, came the pod race, and Anakin brightened at the happy memory.

When Anakin dropped out of the sky from the service ramp on the screen, Ahsoka gripped Anakin's hand and felt her face heat up at the contact. Anakin noticed but didn't move his hand which only intensified her blush. Anakin chuckled. "You can look now, Snips." Anakin said as Ahsoka punched him. "I knew it!" She said with a playful smirk. "You've always been crazy." Anakin looked at his Padawan with a sly smile. "You would hate it if you were assigned to another teacher." Ben and Gwen looked at each other and shook their heads at the Master and Padawan interaction. Master Plo Koon, who was watching the exchange and the movie from a position in the corner of the room, motioned them over and looked at both the ten year olds. "What is it, Master?" Ben asked with a worried expression on his face. "You sense it. Do you not?" The Kel Dor asked them. Gwen giggled at him and said, "Sense it? Are you blind?!" She then fought a squeal. Ben enlightened the clearly confused Kel Dor. "Master Plo, they are in love." This sent surprise through the Jedi Master's face and was evident in the twitch of his face. "The Rule of Attachment…" "…is total bull shit." Ben said flatly. Ben smiled at the Kel Dor and said, "Come, Master Jedi." Gwen said. "Let's watch."

As Ben and the Jedi Master were about to sit down, Carl walked in the room. The three Jedi turned as Carl cleared his throat. "Hi, Dad." Ben said nervously. Carl noticed the clones and narrowed his eyes at them. This earned curious stares from the clones. "Dad, Jedi Masters-" Carl cut him off. "Plo Koon and Anakin Skywalker…" The Two Jedi turned in confusion at their summons. "Dad, the one you haven't met is Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker's Padawan." She bowed. "Your son was kind enough to offer us shelter while we are stranded on your world." Carl chuckled. "You must be hungry. Can I offer you guys anything to eat?" Ben asked the visitors. Anakin was about to answer when his comm. went off. "Excuse me." Anakin said to them as he walked away. The transmission was garbled, but it was able to be understood. "Where in the blazes are you, Anakin?!" Kenobi said with an annoyed tone in his voice. "That's a long story, Master, but we seem to have been sent back in time to a world in the unknown Regions." Anakin said with a sigh as he ended the transmission and walked back inside the house with a long sigh.

When he walked back in the house, Anakin was hit by a massive disturbance in the Force. Then, he heard Ahsoka scream and flew into the living room in a panic. The hurt in Ahsoka's eyes as she looked between Anakin and the television screen was deep and sharp. Anakin shivered as he saw the reason for Ahsoka's pain. Anakin shivered as he relived the slaughter of Tusken Raiders who killed his mother. "A-Anakin, how could you?" Ahsoka asked with a terrified look as she got up and took a few steps away from Anakin in fear. "Snips, I was blinded by rage." He said sadly as he took a few cautious steps toward Ahsoka. The young Togruta had the shine of waiting tears in her eyes. "Ahsoka, I am trying to get away from my past, but it keeps coming back to haunt me." He said sadly as he looked away from her. "I just want to get away from my past. All it does is cause pain." He told her sadly as he sank to his knees. Ahsoka felt a small bit of his pain as she looked at him and shivered at the feeling. Anakin was not prepared when Ahsoka hugged him gently from behind. Anakin looked at Ahsoka in shock. "What are you doing?" Anakin asked with a confused look. "You don't have to bear this pain alone, Skyguy." Ahsoka told Anakin as she held his shivering form comfortingly.

Ben and Gwen watched the two over their bonding experience and smiled. "No more Vader is possible with Ahsoka able to keep him strait." Gwen said happily as she patted Ben on the shoulder. "I would be so quick to jump the gun, Gwen. You know how many times that has blown up in my face." Ben told her as he looked into her shining emerald eyes. Gwen nodded. "How do you plan on double-sealing this result, so it doesn't unravel on us and backfire?" Ben sighed. "You're probably going to slap me, Gwen." Ben said tentatively. Gwen stared at him. "We can't." She said to Ben as she paled. "We have to show him Vader." Ben said calmly as he shivered at the possibility of Anakin's reaction to his Sith alter ego. "Anakin…Ahsoka…we have to show you two something." Gwen told them as she led them outside. She was there with Ben and Grandpa Max when they went to see Episode III and knew how erratic Anakin would be at such a revelation.

Ben looked up at Anakin in slight fear in his eyes but pushed it back as Gwen gripped his hand. "Ben, you can do it. I'll be right here the whole time." Gwen told him as she squeezed his hand and nodded at him with a kind and encouraging smile. Ben nodded in response and looked at Anakin. "Bend down and give me your head." Ben said gently with a kind expression. When Anakin complied, the Jedi Knight wasn't ready for the jolt that ran through his temples. Anakin grimaced and his face tightened in response to the energy. As Anakin's face relaxed flashes of a molten world went before his eyes. Then, the scene changed to him fighting on that same molten world with Obi-wan. This shocked Anakin. _I would never harm my Master_.Anakin thought in surprise. As the battle continued, Anakin shivered at what he said to Obi-wan. Then, he became terrified as he saw Vader's classic suit. "That…can't be me! That can't be me!" He screamed as his eyes snapped open. "What did you show me?" Anakin asked in a panic. Ben sighed. "That is your future if you continue to pursue a relationship with Padme."

Ahsoka's eyes went wide. Then, they went to a sad smile. "Are you happy with her?" Ahsoka asked with a sad tone in her voice. Anakin thought about it and sighed. "To be honest, I'm not." He said with a sigh. "She's a politician; I'm a Jedi. I guess I was just a boy who pounced on the first girl he saw off world." Anakin said sadly. Ben chuckled. This made Anakin give him a confused look. "You sound like me when I meet a girl named Kia Green." Anakin gave Ben a small smile when he saw how the name made Gwen bristle in anger. "I still need to have a 'chat' with the bitch." Gwen growled as Ahsoka shivered. "Relax." Anakin said to his nervous Padawan. "About that…" Ben said as he scratched the back of his head and played the last scene of Episode II. Ahsoka was in tears by the time the scene rolled on to the credits. Anakin's eyes went wide at the scene. "No. No. No! We're just engaged!" He said to the TV in shock. This got interesting looks from all of the people in the room. Anakin facepalmed with an annoyed expression. "I've wanted to break it off for some time, but with The Clone Wars going on, it has proved almost impossible to contact her." He said with a groan. Ahsoka smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. I'll be here with you." She said with a smile.

The Jedi and Ben suddenly snapped to the left. Then, they sprinted outside to see a portal being opened above Bellwood. Ben glared at the ship in anger "It looks like Vilgax made Grievous talk." Gwen said as the Jedi gave her an odd look. "Grievous hasn't met the brutal interrogation tactics of Vilgax." Gwen said as she shivered at Ben's own experience aboard the ship he told her about. "WE have to stop him. He could give The Separatists an edge. Ben sighed and mumbled, "They've got all the edge they need with Sidious." Anakin turned to Ben. "He's a Sith Lord." Ben explained. This made the Jedi stop in their tracks. "Sith are…" Ben and Gwen glared at Anakin. "You and the rest of the Jedi are idiots! Sith are blocking your Force Sight!" Ben and Gwen yelled in unison. All the Jedi took a few steps back from the children.

Ben shook his head and walked over to _The Twilight_ and sighed in annoyance at the sight of the Hyperdive. Ben looked at Artoo. "Damn! The power coupling snapped in the rough landing." Ben growled as he slammed his fist down on the floor in anger. Anakin looked at Ben in shock. "How do you know?" Gwen smiled and shook her head at Anakin. "Anakin; he lives, eats, and breaths Star Wars." She told him. Then, she looked at Ben as she thought of something. "Rakatan Force Hyperspace Technique should be a good stand in." Ben said calmly Ben grunted and felt a Hyperspace warp open in response to his mental command. "Alright, people!" Gwen growled. "Move! Ben can't hold the rift open forever!" With that, everyone piled in the ship and headed back to Galactic Republic Space.

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	11. Dangers Near and Far

Chapter Eleven: Dangers Near and Far

As the _Twilight_ ran through the breach, Ben fell to all fours and heaved down air in exhaustion. Then, he passed out from the strain. "Well, we're in Hyperspace, Ben." Gwen said as she knelt and hefted him with a grunt to a couch in the ship's small common area. "Your boyfriend was quick on the draw." Ahsoka said with a smile as she looked at the red-headed human. "When Ben wakes up, I'm gonna kill him." Gwen said as she looked at Ben worriedly. "He saved us." Ahsoka told her, clearly confused with Gwen's reaction to the First Jedi's heroics. Gwen shook her head in aggravation. "He has a form we call Upgrade who could have easily fixed the Hyperdrive, yet he chose to over-extend his new powers in an attempt to impress you guys. It makes me so angry, but I could never hate him." She said with a sigh. Gwen looked at Ahsoka and attempted to explain why she hated it when he showed off. "An older version of me took us to a future where Ben was so arrogant he would rather die than work together with anyone." Ahsoka gave her a reassuring smile and told her, "Anakin felt the same way when I was given to him as a Padawan, but he quickly warmed up to me." This made Gwen smile, but her attention was drawn to rustling on the couch where she laid Ben. He was tossing, turning, and mumbling, "No. No!"

Almost as soon as Ben's eyes closed, he began to dream. Ben got a bad feeling when he saw himself and Gwen back in the 10K future he wanted desperately to avoid. As Ben and Gwen walked, she smiled and gently took his hand. They continued walking until they came to a three-way intersection. Two paths were dark with no light, and the only light showed behind Ben and Gwen. As Ben looked down both sides of the other road, he saw tubes of light surround him and stared as the light dissipated. "It had to be alternates." Ben groaned as the other Bens approached. All of them looked to be about sixteen. Then, he noticed something odd. All his alternate selves were paired off. The people Ben did recognize with his alternatives made the boy scream loudly in shock and horror. Then, Ben noticed the street sign above the intersection. "Slash Boulevard and Fanfic Drive," he read aloud. Ben's eyes got huge as the alternates started chanting, "Join us!" They began to swarm like zombies sensing fresh meat. "No. This isn't happening! No!" Ben woke with a start in a cold sweat as Gwen held him. "What is it, Ben?" Ben looked at her and hugged the girl tight. "Trust me," he said. "You DO NOT want to know." Ben then cocked his head and looked at her. "You didn't drug me. Did you?" He asked as he shook the last of the nightmare from his head and walked to the bridge. _If that wasn't Hell_ , Ben thought. _It must've been H_ _hoi_ _ell's waiting room._

A few hours later, Ben and Gwen rendezvoused with _Resolute_. Ben was reasonably shocked. The ship was massive, and though it was a Republic vessel, Ben was still a little unnerved because if Ben covered up the red portions with his hands in the window, the ship could be mistaken for an Imperial craft. Ben shook these disturbing thoughts from his mind. _The Empire doesn't exist yet._ Ben reminded himself as they landed in the hanger bay and disembarked. As they stepped off the ramp, Gwen gripped his hand and squeezed gently when she saw his pale expression. "Don't worry, Ben. We'll stop the Emperor." She whispered comfortingly. Over Anakin's comm. link, a clone's voice came through.

"General, an unidentified vessel has been detected on our scanners." Ben's eyes went wide. In a sprint no human could match, Ben ran directly to the ship's bridge without getting lost, a feat that stunned Anakin and Ahsoka but made Gwen just smile faintly at Ben's almost innate knowledge of the ship. "Admiral," Ben began with a commanding voice that sounded unlike him to Gwen's ears. "Bring up preliminary scans of the ship." When Anakin nodded in agreement with the boy, the man did as instructed. Gwen cursed at the hologram of Vilgax's ship that appeared. Ben's eyes narrowed. Anakin knew Ben had more experience with this foe than he and the clones and took the initiative. "Alright people! Ready cannons and prepare fighters. The ship is a hostile target. I say again. We have a hostile target inbound." Ben turned the hologram about so Anakin could see the massive cannon on the ship's bow. "Stay the cruisers. That cannon will rip cruisers to shreds. Shadow Squadron would be the best option. We board, capture Grievous, and get the Hell out of dodge before Squidface notices." Ben looked at Gwen for approval. When she nodded, Ben returned the nod and was about to walk to the hanger to get a fighter when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "You need escort." Anakin said calmly. "I'm coming with you, and Snips isn't going to let me go alone." He said with a slight smile. Ben reluctantly nodded. "Alright, but on Vilgax's ship, we give the orders. Rule One: Do NOT engage the squid alone." Gwen said to them, but she looked at Ben knowingly as she spoke. The two Jedi and Ben nodded in agreement. "Let's mount up!"

As Shadow Squadron neared the target, the clones couldn't believe what they saw. The ship was almost the size of the _Resolute_ but was much leaner. It had a massive laser cannon on the bow but didn't seem to have any other weapons. "This guy's got quite the ego." Ahsoka said with a smirk. "You have no idea." Ben responded before he saw turret nests on the sides under the bridge of the ship. "Shadow Squad, keep those smaller turrets busy and stay clear of the bow. Ahsoka, Anakin; it's time to show you guys how we do things back home. We're going in." Anakin expected Ben and Gwen to start firing at the ship, but they just moved towards the aft section of the ship and stopped. Then, Ben smiled as the garbage bay doors opened and released the trash from the ship. "Now's our chance." He said as he and the Jedi landed before the garbage bay doors closed. After the room pressurized, the four disembarked.

Gwen was impressed. She walked up and kissed Ben with a smile. "Where did you learn that?" She asked. He grinned. "It's the reverse of a trick Han Solo did in Episode V to avoid detection by the Empire." He responded with a gleam in his eyes. "…and you said my 'obsession' with Star Wars could only be harmful." Gwen groaned. She hated eating crow. As they walked through the ship and avoided drones, Ben was starting to regret his plan. _I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around._ Ben thought but knew a snatch 'n grab was best. As they neared the bridge, Ben heard Grievous coughing. Ahsoka ignited her saber and tensed in preparation to nab the Head Clanker. Ben stopped her. "Misdirection is Squidface's favorite tactic." She nodded and stayed back. Ben and Gwen peeked around the corner. They were pushed into the light by a drone's metal "hand".

"Hello, Ben." Vilgax said with a dark scowl. Ben let a small smile pass his lips. "I'd say, 'Nice to see you again,' but it's not." Gwen looked at Ahsoka and Anakin. "Find Grievous. We can handle this freak!" They nodded and sprinted off as Ben jumped up and tore at Vilgax's neck with his claws and teeth. Vilgax swatted at Ben. Gwen caught him and they landed into the wall. "Ow!" Gwen groaned in pain. Ben glared at Vilgax as the alien held pressure to his bleeding neck and began to grow pale. "I will not be vanquished by a child!" He roared as he activated his cybernetic enhancements. The wound flooded with nanites and healed almost instantly. Ben rolled just as a claw hit the ground. Ben then smiled and activated the Omnitrix. Ben turned into Grey Matter and jumped into Gwen's hand. "Gwen, there appears to be a cybernetic junction on the dorsal side of his neck. Can you throw me with enough strength to reach it?" He asked as Gwen dodged and ducked Vilgax's attacks. She kept herself behind Vilgax and looked up. "Yes!" She yelled with glee as she threw him. Ben stuck to the warlord's neck and started pulling wires. As Vilgax's enhancements started to malfunction, Ben jumped down into Gwen's hands. "Let's go!" Ben was about to let her start running when he noticed the controls and started to sabotage the reactor. "Now we really need to go." Ben told Gwen urgently. Gwen paged Anakin. "Time to blow this tub! Ben set the reactors self-destruct." Anakin responded. "Grievous escaped." He said calmly. "Back to the fighters." Ben and Gwen nodded as the Omnitrix timed out. Gwen got on Ben's back and together, they headed for the ships.

Back on the _Resolute_ , the two teams discussed details of what transpired. Ahsoka was very upbeat. "We'll get that Jedi killer yet. Don't worry." She said as she put a hand on Anakin's. "Yes," he looked at Ben and Gwen. "We will." Gwen smiled at Ben. "I think you showed your true self today, Ben." She said with a proud smile as she kissed him gently. Anakin turned to the children. "I've had quarters arranged for you while you stay here. Speaking of which, it's been a long rotation. You should get some sleep. We are going to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant soon." The two nodded but looked at Anakin confused as to where their rooms were. The Jedi turned to a clone captain in armor decorated with unique blue designs and smiled. "Rex, would you please show our guests to their rooms?" Rex nodded. "Yes, sir." Ben felt a stone drop in his stomach as Rex led them to their rooms. Ben was a little relieved when he saw his and Gwen's rooms were directly across from each other. _She won't be too far away from me if something goes wrong._ Ben thought to himself as Gwen felt a similar relief wash over her. "The only people you can trust in foreign territory are each other." She said quietly before Ben and Gwen exchanged good nights. and closed their doors. The rooms were nothing special. It was just vacated clone quarters. As such, the rooms were very Spartan and sparsely furnished. When Ben and Gwen saw their rooms, both went straight to the beds and were asleep before their heads hit the pillows.

 **Merry late Christmas to all my readers. I wanted to have this done for Christmas but better late than never. Please Read and Review.**


	12. Tests

Chapter Twelve: Tests

Ben woke up with "Every Time We Touch" by Cascada playing in his head. The song made him reach across the bed to find Gwen wasn't there. Brief disappointment came over the boy as he reached over and felt nothing but air. He sat up and looked around in brief confusion at the room he was in before the previous night came to him. Ben then yawned and slowly got out of the bed. Ben spent a few moments searching in vain for the door to the bathroom. Then, a door opened by collapsing straight down with a small hiss. Ben couldn't help smirking at the tech and noticed there were spare clothes folded neatly on a chair next to the shower. He smiled at the cadet suit. After washing, Ben got dressed and walked out of his room. _Is Gwen up?_ Ben thought as he looked at her door and debated going in.

Ben shook his head and was about to walk to the galley when he heard Gwen scream. Ben almost kicked in the door with a deadly glare when it simply slid open. As his eyes met her, Ben quickened his step when he saw Gwen sitting over the side of the bed as she shivered and began to cry. "B-Ben…" She said as she shook in fear and sadness. Ben sat down on the bed and pulled her close. "What was the nightmare?" He asked as Ben kissed her forehead to comfort her. She looked him in the eyes. "It was terrible!" She said as she gripped his hand in a bid for comfort. "It was basically The Mustafar Scene. You were Anakin; I was Padame; and for some strange reason, Kevin was Obi-Wan." Ben's eyes widened. "Did I…?" She couldn't hold back the tears any longer and sobbed as she continued to weave the nightmare's narrative. "Kevin…he kicked you into the lava river!" She held him tighter. "Ben, you were so badly burned when you crawled out of the river…" Incoherent sobs gripped the girl at that point, and she couldn't finish the dream. Ben let her cry for a few moments. Then, he smiled and wiped her tears away. "Look at me, Gwen." _The nightmare was so real._ The scared girl thought as she hesitated, scared she would see a burned and scarred version of the face she loved. As Gwen heeded Ben's gentle command, she felt a rush of relief wash over her when she saw he was ok. Ben smiled gently. "I'm fine. I promise." He assured her. Ben wanted to stay because he knew how fragile a person was after a vivid nightmare like that. When he turned to leave so Gwen could get dressed, Ben saw fear in Gwen's eyes. _Don't leave, Ben, please._ She pleaded with a terrified expression. "I'm not leaving." He assured her. "I'm just stepping out, so you can get a shower and get dressed." She hesitantly nodded. "A-alright." With that, Ben walked out of her room but stood sentry at the door until she was ready.

As the door closed, Gwen slid down the bed as a new wave of silent sobs hit her. There was a portion of the nightmare she purposefully didn't tell Ben about. She shuddered at the memory. After Kevin kicked Ben into the deadly river, Kevin appeared by her. She tried to wretch away, but Kevin held fast. "You're mine now, Gwen," he told her in the nightmare. "No one can save you."

When Gwen walked out of her room, Ben was surprised by what he saw. She was in a light gown with the same color scheme as her other clothes. Ben tried not to stare, but Gwen looked good in a dress, really good. His gaze was broken by shining tears as they glinted against her emerald irises. _There's something she didn't tell me because she's scared._ Ben thought. He pushed the urge to ask about it to the back of his mind Gwen noticed Ben's smile and grinned to herself at Ben's reaction as the pain of the nightmare fled away under the light of Ben's smile. Her private musing was broken as her stomach growled and caused Ben's to reciprocate. Ben smiled at her. "Follow me. I know where the chow line is." He told her kindly as Ben let his nose do the walking.

At the mess, Ben and Gwen stuck out like a sore thumb, being the only children in the room. The clones noticed and smiled the children. Ben and Gwen sat down together in an empty space near the far end of the first table. The clone on the left side of the table smiled at them. "Where's your homeworld, children?" He asked. Gwen saw no harm in answering the clone. "I'm Gwen. This is Ben." She said as she gestured to said boy next to her. "We're from a world beyond The Outer Rim, in the Unknown Regions." The clone nodded with a surprised but pleased look. "I'm Broadsword." The clone said with a kind smile as he shook their hands in turn. "Where are you headed?" Ben smiled and said, "We're headed to Coruscant to the Jedi Temple." Broadsword nodded. "You know? I've heard rumors of a Force-sensitive Mandalorian. Watch yourselves." He said with a cautious tone as Ben paled. "A Mandalorian without Force abilities is dangerous." Ben said quietly. Gwen nodded. "Thanks for the tip, Broadsword." Gwen said as Anakin and Ahsoka met them. "Come on, you two." Anakin said as he motioned for them to follow. The two couples boarded _Twilight_ and flew to a landing platform outside the Temple. Ben felt a cold chill skate down his back for no apparent reason and became increasingly nervous. Ben looked across to the Senate Building unconsciously and squeezed Gwen's hand for comfort as they disappeared into the Temple.

In the Supreme Chancellor's office, Palpatine was taken out of his meditation by a strong disturbance in the Force. "What is this?" The Sith Lord mumbled as he watched what appeared to be a clone cadet with strangely unkempt hair and a girl walk into the Jedi Temple. These two humans were unusually powerful in the Force. _I will watch both of them with great interest._ Palpatine thought as his hands formed a pyramid and he smiled at the view as the unaware Jedi followed the two younglings. Sidious cut the cameras inside his office and substituted the live feed for a wide loop of the Chancellor doing various things in his office. Sidious then donned his cloak and pulled out a hand-held holoprojector. The projector sprang to life in his hand to show a flickering image of Dooku. "What is thy bidding, my master?" Dooku asked with a respectful quick bow. Palpatine smiled. "I have felt a powerful disturbance in the Force." Dooku nodded. "I have felt it, master." Sidious' smile only widened. "The disturbance is a boy and girl. The Jedi will test their capacity for the Force while you shall conduct trials of your own, My Apprentice." Dooku smiled. "It will be done, Lord Sidious." With an exiting bow, Dooku cut the connection, and the small projector went dark.

When Ahsoka and Anakin entered with the younglings, the Jedi Council was stunned. The power that radiated from the children was incredible. "Start testing you immediately, we will." Grand Master Yoda told them with argument to the contrary you the other Council members. Ben and Gwen both smiled at the old master as Windu brought out a data pad. Gwen rolled her eyes at the gesture of protocol, closed her eyes, cleared her mind, and pulled on the Force tendrils around the device in Windu's hand. As the device lifted smoothly from his grip and traveled to Gwen's waiting hands, the Jedi Masters looked on stunned silence. To show the masters his abilities, Ben gently picked up the data pad and, with smooth effortlessness, returned it to Windu without moving a muscle. _Thanks for the lessons, Ben._ Gwen told the boy to her left through a mental link they established with the Force to be able to keep an eye on each other for safety's sake and to be able to communicate strategy in the heat of battle without letting an enemy in on it. Ben let a small smile pass his lips before he responded, _You're welcome, Dweeb._

Ben was proud of himself. He taught Gwen "Basic Force Wielding 101" in the amount of time it took them to leave _Resolute_ and walk into the Jedi Temple. Of course, that would have been impossible if Gwen didn't already have a basic knowledge of the Force and Gwen's skill at being a quick study with new skills. The only reason Ahsoka and Anakin didn't catch the lessons was because Ben masked his and Gwen's Force Signatures during that time. It came as a pleasant shock to Ahsoka and Anakin when Gwen did her demonstration for the Council. Yoda scratched his chin in thought as he looked at the amazingly proficient younglings. Ben walked up to the Grand Master and suggested something in his ear. Yoda's face showed in surprise. Then, he nodded in agreement. "Continue to train together, you will." He said as the other masters looked at Yoda in surprise. "Train best with each other, they do." Yoda explained as they were all dismissed.

As the children were about to walk out into a waiting landing platform where the _Twilight_ waited to take them to Ilum for their saber crystals, Count Dooku landed. "Sidious sends his lackey." Ben grumbled as he took out a green toy saber Ben always kept with him. This brought an amused smile to the Count's face. "What are you going to do with that, boy?" Ben just smiled and focused on the toy. It was swallowed by light. As the light faded, and authentic duel-blade saber rested in Ben's hand. Ben activated one blade, and with a hissing hum, a blue blade erupted from one end of the saber. Dooku smiled as his own saber slid into his hand from his sleeve. Dooku ran at Ben and activated his saber midstep. The sabers clashed repeatedly in brilliant flashes of color and light. To confuse Dooku; Ben went for a strike, drew back before it could connect, and engaged his other blade. The blood red Sith blade that issued from the other end of Ben's saber shocked all who watched except Gwen. Shocked by what the boy produced, Dooku lost his concentration, and Ben brutally pressed his attack in a flurry of light and motion. Once Dooku was on his back and saberless, Ben glared down at the Count. "Tell your master, Darth Sidious to leaver and my girlfriend alone!" At this yell, Ben felt his Loboan half surface and snapped his jaws at the Count threateningly. Dooku nodded and sprinted off, his pride wounded beyond compare because of a BOY. When Ben looked back up, he saw Ahsoka and Anakin glaring at him. "Halfbreed…" Anakin said with a slight flash of anger as the four of them boarded the _Twilight_ for Ilum.

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	13. Trials

Chapter Thirteen: Trials

Ben and Gwen took seats around a table in the common area of the ship and talked about the duel with Dooku and the Jedi's reaction to the fact that Ben wasn't completely human. "Where did you get that saber, Ben?" Gwen asked as she looked at the double-bladed saber that now laid on the table in front of them. The hilt was sleek and looked like it was just polished to a sheen. On either emitter, there was a small blade guard that stood about three inches out from the emitters, and Gwen couldn't help but notice releases on both sides of the center grip. "Duel blades that can turn to two individual sabers." Ben said proudly. "That's something I wish Maul would have done to his saber. It would have made him more effective in combat." Ben told Gwen in a clinical tone. The girl took Ben's hand and gently squeezed it because she had a feeling something was going to happen on Ilium. "Did you see how Anakin reacted to your Loboan half?" Gwen asked him. Ben nodded. On a hunch, Gwen pulled up a search on the holonet for galactic stigmas. What she found made a lot of sense. "That explains The Empire's almost pure human staff." She mumbled as she read some human superiority propaganda. Ben took a look at it and growled when he saw the by line. It was a jumble of Galactic Basic characters but, with a little rearranging, spelled out "Sheev Palpatine". "We have to talk to them." Gwen decided as she looked into Ben's eyes. Ben nodded and put his saber in a loop on the cadet uniform designed for a blaster.

As Ben and Gwen chatted, Anakin and Ahsoka talked as well but about a completely different subject. "Anakin, why does it bother you that Ben is only half human?" She asked. Anakin could sense the pain in his Padawan's voice. "Snips, I don't know what the boy is capable of because his alien half is of a species not in the Galaxy." She nodded but still didn't seem satisfied with the answer her teacher gave. "A Jedi trusts first." She reminded him as she looked into his eyes and tried to soothe him. "They have no reason to betray us." He told her with a sigh. "That Sith blade just makes me extremely uncomfortable." She nodded and smiled. "If Ben wanted to join the Sith, he would have done so when he met the count, but he fought." She reminded him with a kind expression. At that moment, Gwen transferred the article to a portable projector and brought it to Anakin and Ahsoka. The two Jedi read the push for registration legislation for non-humans. Ben thought to himself as the Jedi read the article, _Hitler and Magneto merged into one._ "What's so troublesome about it, younglings?" Anakin asked when he didn't see it as anything more than some discontent lowlife shooting off their mouth. Ahsoka gasped when she ran the by line through her head and came out with a certain Chancellor. "Anakin, the Chancellor wrote this!" Anakin paled at the thought and heard deep mechanical breathing in his mind for a few seconds before it stopped for some unknown reason. Anakin was about to turn the ship around when Ben stopped him. "If we are going to arrest Palpatine, we need all the help we can get." The boy shuttered as he remembered The Confrontation Scene from Episode III. "We'll need all the Jedi help we can get." Ahsoka smirked. "Can't we get a detachment of clones to-" Ben and Gwen's eyes both went wide. "NO!" They yelled in unison. "We cannot, under any circumstances, use clones for this." Ben told them firmly. "We have to continue to Ilium, so Gwen will be armed when we meet him." With a confused nod, Anakin stayed on course for Ilium.

Once the group landed, the bad feeling Gwen had only grew worse. When she saw a cave of crystal near where they landed, Gwen did not want to go. Ben looked at the scared girl and pulled her closer to him. "I won't let anyone or anything hurt you." He told her comfortingly. As they walked deeper inside, Ben could feel the rising and receding of the crystal around them as if the crystal itself was breathing. Suddenly, when Gwen looked around, she didn't see Ben. Instead, she saw Charmcaster. "How did you get here?!" Gwen asked in shock. "That doesn't matter. All that does matter is that Ben abandoned and lied to you!" She hissed as she ran at Gwen. The red-head closed her eyes and heard Charity throw something at her. "What's your deal?!" Gwen asked in shock as the objects exploded and knocked Gwen back about ten feet. "I thought you renounced evil!" Gwen yelled at her, confused. Then, she saw it. The thing hand red eyes, Sith red eyes. Gwen smiled when she saw this. "Ben would never abandon me. You're not real, just a test. Be gone!" Gwen ordered. As the illusion faded, it turned to vapor and the vapors condensed into a single pale blue Kyber Crystal with a core of green in it. The crystal floated to Gwen's hand, and she clutched it tightly to her. As she walked back the way she came, Gwen couldn't help but worry about Ben. _I hope he's ok._ She thought as she continued to walk toward the mouth of the cave.

Ben sighed and was keenly aware when Gwen's grip left his hand. Ben stopped at this, looked around, and called, "Gwen!" In the distance, he heard her grunting and struggling against someone. Ben ran to the spot to see Vader holding her in the air as she struggled against the Force Choke. "Ben…" Gwen pleaded. "Go!" Ben glared at Vader "I'm not going anywhere without you…even if it means I have to fry Vader to do it!" Ben said as he reached for his saber. When it was not on his person. Being glared at Vader and allowed his hands to collect with his emotions until his fingers arced with Force Lightning. "That's it, Ben," Vader told him. "Give in to your anger. It will give you power to save the one you love." Ben glared at Vader angrily. Ben thought of how this would effect Gwen and used that anchor to pull himself from blind fury to righteous anger. As he gained control, he felt the energy in his hands change. The energy went from cold and rage-fueled to powerful and comforting warmth. The color also changed. Instead of cold electric blue, the energy was now emerald green. It was that energy that Ben channeled into what would come to be known as Electric Judgement or Emerald Lightning. As the energy touched Vader, the illusion shattered. "Vader" condensed into a Sith Crystal and "Gwen" into a blue Kyber Crystal before both crystals vanished and Ben felt a familiar weight tug at his left hip. _Right where you belong…_ Ben thought before he returned to the mouth of the cave and joined the three beings that waited for him.

On the way to Coruscant, Ben felt a mildly familiar presence as if the person was someone he knew of but didn't know personally, following them. He went to a quiet place on the ship and began to meditate, so he could identify this presence. Then, he saw her. Bald, thin, and down right ugly; she could have been like Grevious, and it would have improved this woman's looks. Ben shivered as the image of Dooku's Sith apprentice. "Ventress…" the boy mumbled as he came out of the meditation and walked back up to the _Twilight_ 's bridge. "Guys, we're gonna have company of the bald witch variety when we land." Ben warned. Ahsoka nodded. Gwen didn't know why, but she suspected this was a fight for her and her alone. Ben hated that but knew Gwen was right, so he helped her construct her saber in the interlude between Coruscant and Ilium.

As the ship went into Coruscant's atmosphere, Gwen activated her saber. It had a beautiful blade: blue on the edge with a green core. Her saber was no less elegant, but it had a certain subtle ferocity in the hilt design that would make anyone who saw it understandably leery of the weapon and its wielder. As they landed, Ventress came flying out of the sky with a growing scream at Gwen. The girl quickly blocked with her own saber and used the Force to give herself unnatural strength. Gwen broke the blade lock with a furious motion and came down on Ventress hard. The Sith's knees struggled to keep her up against Gwen's power. Ventress broke the lock this time with a lightning fast motion. Gwen charged her. The two opponents clashed over and over again. Ben watched in awe of Gwen's inmate skill with the saber as she and Ventress danced around the platform. Gwen felt her anger rising the longer she fought.

Soon, Ventress' strikes lost all traces of technique and just became mad swings that beat against Gwen's tiring body. When the girl barely missed a strike, that's when Ben's heart froze in his chest. "Gwen!" He screamed. Every fiber of Ben's body tried to run to her, but something held him motionless and forced to be nothing more than a spectator to the duel. Gwen heard Ben's cry for her and felt new strength flow into her. "I'm not dying today, bitch!" Gwen growled with a fury as she threw Ventress into a wall with the Force as a sickening crack of bones breaking echoed against the hard durasteel landing platform. Ventress lay motionless and defeated as Gwen disengaged her weapon and swarmed Ben in a tearful hug which he returned before he kissed her deeply. "Not bad for your first duel, Dweeb." He said with a gentle smile as he pulled her into an embrace. "I came so close to losing you…" He told her with a whimper. She smiled. "It'll take more than some bald freak to take me away, Ben."

As Ben held Gwen close, he looked over her shoulder across the skyline to the Senate Building and got the impression eyes were boring into them, even from the distance which they were from the building. In the darkness of Palpatine's office, the man stared at the Jedi in contempt, his red Sith eyes burning with hate as he viewed the sight of the victorious Jedi Padawan learner. The man growled and slammed his fist down on the desk at the sight of Ventress motionless. "You have bested my students, but you will not far so well against me." Palpatine growled as Ben responded under his breath with a glare. "We'll see about that."

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	14. Salvation in Change

Chapter Fourteen: Salvation in Change

Gwen heard Ben's declaration and sighed _. Ben, all Palpatine has to do is tell the clones to initiate Oder 66, and the Jedi are all dead._ She reminded him with a sad tone that carried even to her thoughts. Ben's eyes went wide. "I hate it when you're right." Ben groaned aloud as he looked at her. "Signals can be used to program a system." He mumbled as he paced. "What if we override Order 66 with something else?" Gwen smiled at her boyfriend and nodded. "It could work, Ben, but we would have to get ok from the Jedi Council first."Karabast…" Ben groaned. "We have to show the Council Order 66 but don't have any proof." Gwen shook her head and smiled as she took out a holodisc. "It took some work, but I managed to convert the DVD to a hologram." Ben's eyes brightened. He swamped Gwen in a hug. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Gwen." Gwen kissed him gently and parted as Anakin and Ahsoka walked up to the pair. "You'd turn into a total jerk." Gwen said soberly as Ben turned away from the group in shame for a moment which puzzled the Master and Padawan. The moment passed and Ben smiled mischievously. "Guys, we have a plan to turn Palpatine's trump card against him." Anakin smiled and leaned in. "I'm listening."

The Council Chamber was silent as Ben and Gwen walked in front of the waiting Jedi Masters. "Something to say, have you, Master Tennyson?" Yoda asked with a bit of contempt in his voice. Ben nodded and glared at each of the Councilmen in turn. "You say that the Jedi are Peacekeepers, galactic police." The Council nodded in agreement with Ben's statement. Ben nodded in turn, folded his hands behind his back, and began to pace as he kept eye contact with the different members of the Council. "You are called 'general' by your clone underlings, right?" The Jedi again nodded. Ben rubbed his eyes and sighed in annoyance as if he was trying to get it straight in his mind. "Explain something to me, please because I can't understand it. Maybe Gwen and I are just backwoods hillbillies to you, but where we come from, there are major differences between police and a general." Yoda's eyes widened and settled into a simmering anger at Ben's words, but the rest of the Jedi, Mace Windu chief among them, seemed cut by Ben's words. This made Ben smile and opened Ben up for his next accusation. He pointed at Yoda. "Ah! The hypocrite speaks. Grand Master Yoda, the Code of the Jedi states: 'There is no emotion…' What say you in defense of your current state of anger?" Yoda's eyes glowed with bitter light. "Nothing to say, have I, to a youngling!" Yoda bit out with anger, which stunned all the people in the room because they all knew The Path to the Dark Side. "I thought as much." Ben said as he calmly waited for Yoda to attack him, but the green imp never did. "Let me show the Council, with their permission, what happens when emotion is not allowed to be expressed." When Windu nodded, the rest of the Council gladly sat back and waited.

At that cue, Gwen handed Ben a prepared large holoprojector and the boy commanded the video to play with a smile before he and Gwen sat down and watched the video start which was an edited compellation version of scenes from Episodes II and III. First, Anakin's slaughter of the Tusken Raiders after the death of his mother due to unresolved feelings of isolation showed as the Jedi stared in horror. Next, the "wedding" that got Anakin into a tizzy played. In succession, Padame's pregnancy and the visions of Padame's death in childbirth played. The Jedi Masters shivered at the visions. Then, the video continued as Anakin's fear of death drove him to seek strength and power to become strong enough to save the senator. Ben stopped the hologram at that point and stood up. "Attachment…" He started. "…is destructive to the Jedi." Yoda finished incorrectly and interrupted. "Showed us this, you have." Ben glared at the green dwarf, but a soothing touch from Gwen calmed the boy. "Attachment can be dangerous and hurtful if it is to the wrong thing or person. That is what canon desperately screams at us." Ben said as he slipped into "Fanboy Mode" for a moment. "It can provide unparalleled strength if the attachment is in harmony with the will of the Force."

Yoda chose this moment to forego respect and outright attacked Ben as the seed of the Dark Side in Yoda planted long ago sprouted into a beast. In a flash, Gwen intercepted the strike. "You can't talk to Ben like that!" She growled as Ben found his feet. Ben stood, took out his saber, and activated it. The Jedi gasped at the sight of Ben's blades. Yoda charged them, and Ben smiled. _Gwen, he's going to jump. Intercept._ Gwen nodded, and her legs tensed in response to the suggestion. Then, she rocketed off the floor of the Council Chamber and slammed her blade into Yoda's. The two landed in tense saber lock. _Ben, he's distracted. Go for it!_ Ben smiled and threw his saber at Yoda, who dodged the spinning blade as Ben expected. Gwen rolled and snatched the weapon out of the air. The momentary diversion was long enough for Ben to go XLR8 and slam Yoda into the wall with a burst of speed. As the Grand Master slummed to the floor, unconscious, Anakin and Ahsoka walled in.

Ahsoka looked at the fallen Yoda and started to run to him, but Anakin gently stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "He fell to The Dark Side, Snips." Anakin told her sadly as he looked at Ben's altered form with a briefly puzzled expression. Then, he remembered Ben's ability to change as Gwen walked up to them, and Ben blurred over to them. Gwen looked at Ahsoka. "I told you The Rule of Two wasn't strictly adhered to. Didn't I?" She said with a hint of sadness in her voice as she spoke. "You knew, Gwen?" Ben asked her as he looked at his girlfriend, a little dumbfounded. "It was well-hidden, but Yoda has a dark aura." She explained as the other members of the Jedi Council nodded. She then glared at Ben and handed him his saber. "This weapon is your life, Ben." Ben laughed quietly at the altered quote from Episode II and said, "I'm glad I have you to protect my life when I do something stupid like throw it away."

Once Yoda was taken away into custody, Master Windu smiled at the four people in front of the Council. "Sorry for that, younglings." Windu apologized. "What is it you wish to discuss with us?" Ben nodded and started the video up again. This time, Ahsoka and Anakin watched in horror as Darth Vader began his reign as Second in Command of the Galactic Empire with brutal efficiency. Anakin had to turn his head as his Sith alternate murdered children ruthlessly under a false hope. Ahsoka shivered at the scene. Then, Sidious activated Order 66. The Jedi stared in horror as they watched each Jedi gunned down by their clone troopers. Windu held up a hand, and Ben stopped the video. "What do you have in mind, young Jedi?" Windu asked as he let a shiver crawl up his spine at the sight. Ben's eyes gleamed. "I need Rex and Cody." Ben told the Council calmly. Anakin and Ahsoka shared a smile as they realized Ben's plan. "What else do you need, Ben?" Windu asked him. Anakin smiled. "Snips and I have everything else needed for the mission, Master." Windu gave Anakin a strange look. When Anakin realized what he said, the Jedi blushed deeply and waited for a reprimand which never came. Windu looked at the two couples with a kind expression. "Stop this horrible fate." Windu ordered as the four of them bowed politely and walked out of the room. No one knew, but a new Jedi age had started with that revelation to the Jedi Council by Ben and Gwen.

Once on board the _Twilight_ , Anakin looked at Ben and Gwen with a skeptical look in his eyes. "Are you sure this will work?" Skywalker asked them as the ship left orbit and went into hyperspace. "It must." Gwen said as Ben looked at Cody and Rex with a little fear in his mind. He sighed and walked up to the clones. They looked at Ben and smirked when they saw his saber. "Well, you're a little short for a Jedi general?" Ben smiled and fought the urge to laugh at Rex's comment. "This galaxy is full of surprises." Ben remarked as he looked at the clones and felt his fear of them start to fade. Ben then smiled as Cody asked, "What is this mission exactly, sir?" Cody couldn't help smiling at the irony. "It's a Black Op. Someone is trying to turn your brothers into droids." Ben growled as the thought of Sidious' plan left a very bad taste in Ben's mouth, but he had to admit. It was almost flawless. It didn't account for a Star Wars fan and his talented girlfriend to wreck the sick bastard's plan.

On Kamino, there was a welcoming committee of an unexpected sort. "What is SixSix doing here?!" Ben growled when he saw the familiar black and purple armored creature. SixSix spoke in his normally unintelligible speech. Gwen's eyes went wide. "He says he was brought here by a black hole that swallowed him." Gwen shivered. _How can I understand him?_ She thought in confusion. _We'll figure that out later._ Before he could tell Gwen, she sliced off SixSix's jetpack. "How'd you know?" Ben asked. Gwen smiled. "I just leveled theplaying field." She told him with a grin as they quickly took out SixSix and sprinted into the cloning facility. Rex quickly identified a strange room that was off to the side and out of the way. "There!" Rex shouted as he pointed to the room and drew the attention of the clones in train, who stared at the six of them. "Go back to your meals, soldiers!" Cody ordered as the group listened to him. Ben smiled as he saw the chip programming center, turned into Upgrade, and "upgraded" the Order 66 command. Then, he sent this new code to every clone's chip in the galaxy. Once Ben turned back to normal, the strike team looked at him with worry. "Did it work?" Gwen asked him. Ben smiled and played Sidious' voice command over a recorder. Cody and Rex looked at him for a moment. Then, they shook the vapors from their minds. "Why do I want to hunt down and kill a guy named Sidious?" Rex asked as Cody nodded in agreement. "He's the man that tried to turn every clone into a droid." Ben said with a scowl as Gwen looked at Ben and shook her head with a small smile on her lips.

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	15. Confronting Shadows

Chapter Fifteen: Confronting Shadows

Ben was running. He chanced a look back and saw massive creatures chasing him. They had red eyes and resembled gray Protoceratops. Large front legs pulled the creatures along at amazing speeds. They growled at him and started to gain ground. Ben looked down at the Omnitrix and cursed. "Damn it! Why won't you work when I need you?!" He complained as he came out of the cave to see dark storm clouds arc with lightning overhead as rolling thunder answered the flashes. "What hellish place did I stumble into?" Ben asked himself aloud. That's when he saw the glint of metal in the grey, almost black, sand. Ben walked over and picked up the object. He was a little shocked when a red blade jumped out of the hilt with an angry hum. Ben looked at the saber for a moment. Then, he saw similar objects littered the ground around him. _Sith Hounds and Sith sabers…_ The boy thought. _I must be on…_ The thought was cut short as one of the creatures that were chasing Ben pinned him down. Ben cried out in pain under the weight of the beast's massive forelegs. Ben squeezed his eyes shut to not stare into the monster's eyes, but the effort was futile

As Ben's eyes opened, they connected with the creature's ruby blazing orbs. Ben winced and jerked as images and sounds flashed through his mind. He saw Sidious. The man was standing in the middle of his office. Everything looked in order except one thing. The energy in the room was dark and cold. The Sith had a twisted grin on his face and held Gwen by the neck as she struggled against him. Ben's hands shook with rage. "Sidious, I'll kill you!" Ben roared. In response, Palpatine squeezed Gwen's neck tighter until the girl yelped in pain. "Surrender and your girlfriend lives." Sidious offered with a cruel expression on his face. "Don't do it, Ben!" Gwen's voice pleaded before she pushed Sidious away angrily. "Good." Sidious praised. "Use your anger." He told Gwen as she pulled her saber from, its holster and leaped at the Dark Lord. Sidious smiled and struck Gwen down in midair with a blast of Sith Lightning. Ben glared at Sidious and charged him in a rage at the sight of Gwen's smoking body. Ben stared at her as a growl formed in Ben's throat. The boy glared with deadly eyes at the Sith. "Strike me down, boy. I can feel your anger." Sidious said as he closed his eyes and reveled in the anger. Ben tried to control his rage, but it proved to be almost impossible. "Sidious…" Ben growled as his eyes glowed with rage. As the boy raised his saber, Gwen groaned out, "Ben, don't do it!" That plea broke Ben's concentration. Sidious' laugh made Ben shiver. In a flash, Sidious had Ben on his back and had Gwen in an iron Force Choke grip. She let out a blood curdling scream as Ben stared in shock. With a sick smile, the Sith Lord funneled more dark emotion into the choke until Gwen's neck gave with the sickening snap of bone made Ben freeze.

He jarred awake and screamed, "NO!" Shaking and in cold sweat, Ben put his face in his hands as Ben looked around the dark room and began to cry. "It can't be real. It just can't!" He said to the universe with a broken heart. Gwen woke up with Ben scream in her ears. The girl's heart beat in her chest wildly in fear. She screamed Ben's name as she looked around the room quickly, jumped from the bed, and ran across the hall to Ben's quarters. The door to his quarters opened. Ben heard running. Then, someone jumped onto the bed with him and held the terrified boy. "Ben," the person called softly. Gwen ran her hand over Ben's back comfortingly. "I'm here, Ben." She told him as the distraught boy looked into her eyes. "Sidious…he…" Ben tried to speak but couldn't. "He killed me?" She suggested softly. Ben trembled in her arms and nodded. Gwen's face took on a dark look. "This ends today." She promised as she held him tightly until he calmed down.

A few minutes later, Ben and Gwen both came out of the room ready to clean house. "Where is General Skywalker?" Ben asked a clone that walked by them. The clone smiled at the children and pointed down the hall. He's in the Bridge." Ben nodded his thanks and hurried in that direction. In the Bridge, Ben and Gwen found Anakin speaking with the admiral. "Anakin, warn the Council. Sidious Is about to make his move." Anakin nodded as the admiral took a hint and called them. "What seems to be the trouble?" Windu asked. "Be on guard, Master Windu." Anakin warned as the new Grand Master looked at him with a puzzled look. "The Dark Lord of the Sith is going to move up his plans because of Gwen and Ben." Ahsoka said with a sigh. Windu nodded. "We will be on guard. Thanks for the update." With that that said, Anakin terminated the hologram and looked at Ben and Gwen. "Do you still want to do this?" Anakin asked the duo with a worried look on his face. Ben and Gwen looked at each other. _I can't risk losing you._ Ben said to her with a glare. _This is bigger than just us, Ben._ Gwen told him with a glare. Ben sighed. _Alright, but we watch each other like harks. Got it?_ He asked. Ben nodded. "Let's take this clown out." Ben growled with a glare as the others nodded in agreement.

Back on Coruscant, Ben and Gwen braced themselves for the impending battle. "It's time to work." Ben growled with a smile as they walked into the Senate Building. "Find the Chancellor and ring the communicator but under no circumstances are you to engage him." Anakin warned. "Wait for us."Ben and Gwen nodded. Then, together they went of in search of the Sith Lord. On their way, Ben got a bad feeling in the pit of his gut. "Someone is watching us." Ben said as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Gwen nodded and had her hand on her saber in worry as they walked. Then, Ben and Gwen saw a Mandalorian land in front of them. "Who are you?" Ben growled in ager at the warrior. "My name is not important, but your deaths will please my Master greatly." Gwen smiled at the man in armor and ignited her saber. Ben looked at the Mandalorian with a glare as his hands twitched over his saber. The Mandalorian grinned under his helmet at the two children. Then, he ignited a black saber and smiled at the children. "Did you think you were the only ones with sabers?" Gwen gulped when she saw the dark black saber. "Holy…" Gwen shivered and started to back away from the blade as it emanated a fearful aura. Ben glared at the Mandalorian. "A Force Saber…" Ben said calmly. "I thought they were obsolete." Ben said as the person ran at him and Gwen with a yell of fury. Ben ran at the man and blocked his saber from striking a stunned motionless Gwen. The Mandalorian pushed against Ben in anger. "You're not going to touch her, you bastard." Ben said confidently as he glared into the armored visor.

Gwen shook herself from the daze and glared at Ben's attacker. Then, she blasted toward him with a deadly glare and threw all the strength into the attack. The strike took the Mandalorian by surprise. "You're stronger than you look." He mocked with a grin under his visor. Gwen funneled power into her arms from the Force and pushed against the attacker. Gwen then broke the blade lock with a back flip. She smiled at him at Ben attacked the man in armor. "You don't want to touch her." Ben growled as he attacked with anger and threw the Mandalorian into the air. Then, Ben went Diamondhead and slammed his crystalline fist into the man. With a grunt and a gasp of pure shock, the helmet shattered to reveal the stunned expression of a man with a glare on his face. Before the man could continue his attack though, his eyes rolled in the back of his head, and the man passed out with a wispy exhale. "We have to get moving, Gwen." Ben said. Gwen nodded as she and Diamondhead ran toward the Chancellor's office. The duo smiled at Anakin and Ahsoka. "What took you two so long? You didn't stop to make out. Did you?' Ahsoka teased as Ben and Gwen both blushed deeply. "N-No…" Gwen stuttered in fear. Ben glared at Ahsoka. "We were attacked by a Mandalorian that was skilled with a Force saber." Anakin looked at Ahsoka in anger. "A Force saber is nothing to play with, Snips." He said with a warning tone. Ahsoka nodded solemnly before they entered the Chancellor's Office with a firm stare aimed at Palpatine's chair.

The chair turned, and Palpatine gave them a kind smile as he put his hands in a pyramid formation. "What can I do for you four, today?" He asked with a kind expression. Ben rolled his eyes in aggravation. "The jig is up, Sidious!" Ben growled as his wolf form revealed itself, and the boy sent Sidious to the floor before the Sith Lord could get to his saber. "Ahsoka, disarm him!" Anakin said with a glare. Ahsoka smiled as Cody and Rex walked in. Rex grinned as he and Cody cracked their knuckles. "You've lost." Gwen said with a smirk. Ben's eyes went wide. Sidious laughed and said, "No. No! You have lost!" Ben jumped in the way right as energy started to spark around Sidious' hands. Then, he yelped in pain as the Sith Lightning arced around his body and threw the boy across the room. With a whimper, Ben hit the opposite wall hard. Something in Gwen snapped when she saw him go limp. "SIDIOUS!" She roared as her eyes blazed with blue power. Gwen's hands glowed, and she picked the man up and threw him into the window. The window bounced and threw Sidious forward to his knees. Once on his knees, Sidious started to laugh. "Troopers, execute Order 66." Rex and Cody smiled and acted as if they were going to fire on the Jedi, but then, they turned and shot Palpatine. "It is done." Ben said as he and Anakin shared a look.

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	16. An Offer and a Descision

Chapter Sixteen: An Offer and a Decision

Palpatine looked in shock at the blaster wounds and looked back at the clones in anger. "Rex and Cody, kill the Jedi!" The Sith ordered. Rex took off his helmet and glared daggers at the former Chancellor. "No, sir, I'm afraid I can't do that." Sheev stood up slowly. "I am the Ruler of the Republic! You will do as I command or be court marshaled!" Other clones walked into the office and leveled their weapons at the Chancellor. Anakin shook his head. "No…you're not." The Jedi said as Upgrade walked up to the group. "Broadcasting all over the Galaxy!" Ben said in his best announcer voice as Palpatine paled, "It's 'The Sith Revealed'!" Anakin pulled up the Holonet on a local access point and smiled. "Ben, you are a sly little devil." Anakin said as he motioned Ahsoka and the others over. "Look at this, guys." On the screen, it showed Ben's Loboan form being thrown back into the wall by Sith Lightning. Then, when The Sith was distracted, Ben went Upgrade, slid into the security cameras in the office, and made them broadcast the battle over everything that was linked to the Holonet.

Ahsoka laughed, "You couldn't have done any better, Skyguy." Anakin raised an eyebrow and smiled before he pulled her close. "No, I couldn't have, Snips." After he said that, Anakin kissed the Tugrota passionately. This made Ben and Gwen blush. Then, Ben smiled and started laughing because… "Hey, Love Birds." Gwen said with a grin. "We're still live." Ahsoka and Anakin blushed feverishly and quickly pulled away. As Ahsoka smiled and was about to kiss Anakin again in spite of the whole Galaxy watching, Anakin's wrist communicator beeped. "What is it, R2?" After a few beeps and clicks, Anakin let out a heavy sigh. "Patch her through." Padame was furious. "What the hell was that?!" Anakin shook his head angrily at the communicator. "Look. You're pushy, arrogant, manipulative, deceitful, and just…" Anakin didn't want or need to be angry right now, but he had to set the politician straight. "Goodbye…Padame!" As he raised a finger to cut the transmission, Padame said, "Ani, wait! I'm-" He cut her off. "Of course you are. That's what happens to sluts." He said dryly before he cut the connection. "Good bye and good riddance," He then turned back to the party going on without him.

Anakin looked at the pair of children and smiled at them. "That's a load off me." Anakin said happily as Ahsoka hugged him. She then looked at the other couple. "Are you guys going to stick around?" She asked with a smile. "The Jedi could definitely use your help." She told them. Ben and Gwen looked at each other and shook their heads. "No," Ben said. "The Galaxy is in safe hands without us. We have to get back home." Anakin nodded in understanding but was still sad to see them go. Ben sighed, closed his eyes, and concentrated. As the Force portal opened, Ben heard someone clear their throat.

He and Gwen looked up to see Luke Skywalker in a Force Ghost form. Ben almost started to spout off mile a minute questioning at the ghost but halted himself, though it took all his will to do so. "I like this version better," Luke told them. "Sure, I don't exist in this timeline, but any universe without The Empire is a good place in my book." Luke looked at Ahsoka and Anakin. Then, he did a double take. "That's Dad?" He whispered to Ben and Gwen in mild shock. The two nodded. "It's strange to see him happy and not trying to cut me to ribbons." Luke commented. "I'm glad he found happiness though."

It was then the elder Skywalker and Ahsoka noticed the ghost. On instinct, Luke reached for a nonexistent saber at his side. "Who are you?" Anakin asked. Ben and Gwen looked at each other and back at Luke. "Boy," Ben said as he scratched the back of his head in nerves. "This is awkward." Ben said. "More awkward than when Leia kissed me." Luke agreed. "Dude, don't remind me!" Ben said as he squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to get rid of the scene. Luke looked at Anakin. "I'm your son in a universe where Ahsoka doesn't exist and Sidious was not stopped until I came along." Anakin fell backwards and almost passed out. "How could Ahsoka not exist?" Luke shrugged. "All timelines are bound by the Force, and the Force binds everything else." Ahsoka smiled. "That sounds like Master Kenobi." She said as Ben laughed quietly to himself. "Oh and Dad…please stay away from Mustafar." With that, Luke's form faded. Across Time and Space, a meditating Luke Skywalker opened his eyes to look around Degoba with a smile on his face. "Glad there's a place where you found happiness, father." Luke mumbled.

As Luke's form faded, Anakin recovered and looked at the children. "Safe journey," Anakin said as Ben stuck a foot in the portal and looked back at Anakin and Ahsoka. "We will." He said with a smile. Gwen looked back at the pair as they waved and smiled before she joined Ben. "If love can survive almost certain destruction like theirs," she said to herself. "I know ours can endure." With those words, Ben and Gwen returned to their world and time more certain than ever than ever that their love was meant to be and would last forever.

 **Please Read and Review. This story will be marked as "Completed" after this chapter is posted.**


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